Stellar Evolution: Protostar
by Sheherazade's Fable
Summary: Sequel to Stellar Evolution: Nebula. Balthazar always thought that the hardest part of his mission would be finding the Prime Merlinian. He was wrong.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: _**_There's going to be__ a quick explanation for anyone who was confused about the title of the series in this chapter. Thanks for tuning in for another installment. :)_

* * *

><p>The Arcana Cabana was not meant to be lived in. It had been built as a store with attics of storage space above it. If Balthazar had been an individual with social aspirations, or aspirations of any sort of life at all, then he would have done the sensible thing and rented an apartment a few blocks away.<p>

However, Balthazar had not been a social creature. So he had converted one of the attic storage rooms into something like a bedroom. It had a bed, trunk, mirror, and a bookcase in it. That was all. Balthazar had grown up in the austere Middle Ages and he'd grown up poor. There wasn't much decoration to be had in their cottage for reasons of economy.

Even when he had gone to Merlin's his master had preferred an ascetic lifestyle. Hence the only change in dwellings was the addition of a feather bed and rushes. He hadn't liked the tapestries and Merlin had been understanding enough not to force the issue. Balthazar had actually preferred the cold.

Somehow he doubted that the boy sitting next to him in his car would feel the same. It shouldn't be too much of a problem though. The Arcana Cabana did in fact have a heating system for the cold New York winters. And Dave could have the room that Balthazar had made up in the attic. Balthazar had gotten used to using the broken down couch in the basement anywhere. He slept best when uncomfortable.

He gave another glance at his new apprentice. Somewhere after the first hour he had fallen asleep. At first he had idly started tracing designs on the window with his finger. Balthazar had sharply told him that that left marks. He had left off after that and started to stare aimlessly out the window.

Despite his recent ordeal with Horvath he was in surprisingly good shape. Children, especially ones as small as he was, tended not to be so resilient. And not only was Dave young he was small for his age. Then he had the look of a child who tried to be small. Everything about him wanted to be lost in the background.

To anyone with magic a different story would be told. There was a glimmer about him, a break in the regular aura. Balthazar wasn't sure how to describe it. It was like unspent potential, like something was getting ready to come out. No matter how much Dave tried to mask himself he was going to stand out. He'd have to make sure that he knew that.

How would he react to being told that though? He had no idea. Balthazar was uncomfortably aware that he knew next to nothing about his new apprentice. Sure, Becky had told him much, but he had had few words with the boy in question. Overall it didn't seem like the best start to an apprenticeship.

At the same time Dave was quiet. He hadn't tried to engage in conversation with Balthazar past the necessary. On some level he could tell Dave was still in awe of him and magic. He was leaving his home and was probably thinking about what he'd left behind. Having been there himself Balthazar had no wish to interrupt him.

Balthazar was learning things about his habits just the same. Dave had nervous habits of fiddling with his coat and picking at his fingernails. He was also used to a certain level of discomfort. Balthazar had been driving for five hours straight, at midnight, stopping only once to get breakfast/dinner at a fast food restaurant.

Dave had wanted the Super Happy Fun Meal but had been disappointed by the toy that had come with it. It was some sort of action figure, probably from a new movie that was coming out and destined for Box Office catastrophe. Balthazar could tell by the strange mewing noise he made when he took it out of the wrapping. For being as quiet as he was Dave certainly had a myriad of strange noises he could make.

Yet, when Balthazar had told him he could exchange the toy at the counter Dave had shook his head. He had said no more about it, nor even made a noise. It was peculiar. Balthazar was a little worried about Dave's strange habits. If not for the ring that rested on his finger Balthazar wouldn't have thought he was his Master's heir at all. There it sparkled though, and Balthazar knew that he would just have to have faith.

Because he was taking a back road there was next to no traffic. That meant that he didn't have to focus solely on driving. As it tended to do in so many situations Balthazar's mind began to wander. Having an apprentice would change things. He'd have to find a training room and, obviously, clean the dust out of the guest room. The cleaning could be done magically; he trusted himself enough with cleaning spells to be able to do that.

He wondered where on earth you could secretly teach magic in New York City. Considering that he had met a few sorcerers there he knew that there were places. All he had to do was find one. It was probably easier said than done. He'd have Dave studying the Incantus until then. Some good basic study would build a decent groundwork.

Then there was the matter of keeping his new apprentice secret. If he ran into Horvath again he would wonder why Balthazar was keeping the boy with him. Horvath was clever and he would figure things out. So he couldn't run out and find him. The Grimhold was in his pocket though, so he saw no immediate need to chase his adversary.

Merlinians finding him could be just as dangerous as Morganians finding him too. Too many of them wouldn't understand the need for secrecy. Some people might also fall into Morganian hands and inadvertently spill. So the less people who knew that the Prime Merlinian had shown himself the better.

This included Dave. Balthazar had known from the minute that he had begun searching that the boy couldn't know who he was when he found him. At best it would give him a swollen head and make him impossible to teach. At worse Dave would be crushed and frightened by the idea of all that responsibility.

He was just a child after all; not the sorcerer that Balthazar needed him to be. Oh yes, he glimmered but the glimmer was just potential. Balthazar racked his brains to try and figure out what it was like. An appropriate metaphor was needed for both his and Dave's future understanding.

It came to him in a rush. To kill time he had once taken a few astronomy classes, and they supplied one. One day he would be the Prime Merlinian, he would be a star. Not yet though. At the moment he was like a nebula, gathering mass and dust in the vacuum of space. With some tutoring he could be a protostar, and go through the stellar evolution of a high density star. He could only hope at the end he would go supernova instead of turn into a black hole.

Until then Dave would have to keep a low profile. That meant that he would have to be homeschooled, which was fine by Balthazar. He had taken enough classes to be a teacher himself, and this way sorcery could be integrated. Again he looked over at Dave. He had his work cut out for him. No time like the present to get started though.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wake up."

Dave blearily opened his eyes. He looked down at his glow in the dark Buzz Lightyear of Star Command watch. The time was six a.m. If he looked out the window he could see light just cresting the horizon. They had been travelling all night by the looks of things. Feeling stiff Dave unbuckled and opened the door.

Balthazar, no, he should probably refer to him as Mr. Blake, had gotten out on his side. Dave knew you weren't supposed to refer to adults by their first names. It was okay with children, he could even call Rebecca Becky, but for some reason it wasn't with adults. He figured it was some sort of secret knowledge that he'd learn when he was older.

Mr. Blake opened the trunk of the car and took out the suitcase that Dave had hastily packed. There wasn't much in it, mostly books and old drawings. There was a photo album too that he had saved up for. In it he had carefully preserved the remaining pictures of his parents and himself. There were ones of him and Becky too, taken from her camera. Dave didn't have the money for a camera, but he would've liked one.

He had remembered his markers and pencils though. Drawing was one of his hobbies and he flattered himself that he wasn't half bad at it. He didn't think that sorcery included drawing much though. Dave had seen that Horvath person draw runes, but that wasn't something that Dave wanted to have any part of.

"Here," Mr. Blake said, proffering the suitcase to him.

"Thanks Mr. Blake," Dave answered, feeling that it would be better to be polite to the man who was going to teach him magic.

Mr. Blake winced. Dave wondered what idiocy he had committed.

"Call me Balthazar," he said, "Can't stand Mr. Blake."

Dave knew he shouldn't pry, but in this case curiosity got the better of him.

"Why's that?" he asked.

Balthazar sighed.

"It's not my real name," Balthazar said.

"Oh," Dave said.

He let his eyes trail over their surroundings. Peeling lettering said that the place was The Arcana Cabana. It was an appropriate name considering that he was going to learn sorcery there. Simultaneously he noticed the gold letters on the glass. He read 'Proprietor Balthazar Blake'. As if reading his mind Balthazar said;

"It's as good a name as any when you come down to it," he said, getting out a key and unlocking the shop, "Where I came from we didn't have last names; just pronouns."

His voice sneered a little and Dave knew not to pursue it further. Dave was curious, but not suicidal. The door opened and Dave stepped inside of what looked like an antique store.

"I have to go do…some cleaning," Balthazar said with a wince, "Wait here for a few minutes. And don't touch anything."

Balthazar shuffled off into a side room and Dave was left momentarily alone. The shelves and cases were full of strange and fantastic items. The store did seem like it was the setting for some adventure story. There were relics and magical items a plenty. His child eyes fell on one object in particular and he grinned.

"No way," he whispered.

Putting down his suitcase he picked up the lamp. He had seen _Aladdin _only fifty times. And here he was, in a sorcerer's shop, confronted with a golden lamp. Gingerly he started rubbing it with his sleeve. Nothing happened but he resolved to keep it up for another minute or two.

As he continued rubbing his elbow knocked over a metal jar which caused a chain reaction. Dave dropped the lamp and stumbled, attempting to right some of the objects. One of the larger vases knocked him down. He tried to grab onto a large urn to steady himself, but he fell down anyway. The urn tottered and for a minute Dave was terrified that it was going to fall over and crush him.

A hand shot out and righted it. Balthazar looked down at him, exasperated. Dave stared back, waiting to be yelled at.

"The Emperor of the Han dynasty locked his least favorite wife in this urn for ten years to the day," said Balthazar after a time, "They say that it you open it, the same thing will happen to you."

Balthazar crouched down and looked at Dave squarely.

"Of the many things in the shop, many things are here for the safety of non-sorcerers," said Balthazar, "The urn is actually one of the tamer objects."

He narrowed his eyes.

"So when I say don't touch anything, I mean it," Balthazar continued, "Understand?"

Dave nodded, his eyes wide.

"Good," said Balthazar, getting up, "Now grab your stuff and get going."

Still reeling a little Dave grabbed his suitcase and hurried after Balthazar. He was led up a long flight of twisting stairs. Dave had to stop once, panting. He was skinny but he wasn't very physically fit. Normally the stairs would've been a little hard but the suitcase made them a difficult challenge.

When they reached the top Balthazar opened the door. It was a plain room, just an empty bookcase, trunk, mirror, bed, that sort of thing. Dave was reminded of the rooms back at the orphanage, only this one was bigger and rather cleaner than what he was used to. There was also a trapdoor. Now that he was more aware that things weren't exactly simple at the Arcana Cabana Dave had the sense to point at it.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Oh, there's another staircase under it that leads to this room," said Balthazar dismissively, "It's not in good repair, but it leads from one of the side rooms downstairs."

"Okay," Dave said, wondering if this was where Balthazar had been earlier.

Putting his suitcase down at the foot of the bed Dave walked up to the window. There was a pretty good view of the New York City skyline from it. He could even see the Empire State Building. Thoughtfully Dave squinted his eyes and held his thumb up in front of it. Satisfied Dave turned to Balthazar.

"Can I draw on the windows?" he asked.

Balthazar gave him an odd look.

"I don't know, can you?" Balthazar inquired.

"It's just some adults don't like it when-" he started.

"Your room, not mine," shrugged Balthazar, "I don't care what you do to it as long as you don't set it on fire. I'll be back to wake you up around ten since you had a long night. "

He left the room and closed the door behind him. Immediately Dave dived into his suitcase and fished out his markers. This was going to be great.


	3. Chapter 3

Balthazar had no idea what children ate anymore. He wasn't so ignorant that he thought that they ate the same thing that he had growing up though. Society had advanced past forcing uncooked wheat down children's throats. Even if it hadn't then he wouldn't force that food on anyone.

From his own limited T.V. viewing experience he had learned that kids ate pop-tarts. That was all he knew. If he ate anything other than dry toast himself, some habits died hard, he might not have viewed the neon creations with disgust. The disgust would have instead come when he read the ingredients on the back.

"Oh yes," Balthazar said, stacking the boxes near his makeshift kitchen area, "You put pictures of fruit on the **cover**, but that's as close to real fruit as this pop-tart is getting."

He tossed the box into the air and caught it. Once again he looked over the nutrition facts in disbelief.

"Not a single nutrient in this sugar-soaked monstrosity," he said, "And why the hell is it called a pop-tart anyway?"

Shaking his head in dismay he looked over at his other purchases. Mostly it had been food. There were other varieties of pop-tarts, along with some fresh fruit to balance things out. There was yoghurt and meat, which would have to be cooked. He winced at that. Most things he cooked came out charred beyond recognition. That had been well and good at Merlin's Keep where all meat looked like that. Now people were a little more discerning.

He sighed. Balthazar had always had a half-hazard attitude about food. In modern times he generally just made or bought a sandwich whenever he felt like it. Growing up he had been lucky to get two meals a day unlike his other noble apprentices. He had learned to make do with what he had, which generally wasn't much. It hadn't bothered him; it was just the way that things were.

The other apprentices, used to a better standard of living, had each reacted in their own ways when learning this. Horvath had been horrified to learn about his dietary habits while Veronica had assumed a more pitying attitude. He grinned when he remembered how she had always made sure that they had extra food around. Horvath had even joked that she had been trying to fatten him up. He was lucky that that wasn't the end result.

Closing his eyes he thought back to the Grimhold. Since grabbing it from the inside of Horvath's coat he hadn't had a chance to take a look at it. He knew for a fact that it had Veronica's picture on it. There were pictures of her in the Incantus, he had gone searching for them, but none of them were in color.

Balthazar shook his head again. He couldn't afford to wallow in old memories, to waste time in such a manner. The boy who would save the world was asleep upstairs and ready to jump into his first day of training. Dave would need his Incantus though. Feeling guilty Balthazar looked at the clock. It was nine forty-five. He had promised Dave he'd wake him up at ten. He had time.

Turning on his heel he headed to the downstairs safe. Spreading his hands out the secret compartment opened up. He took out the Incantus and placed it on the ground beside him. Then he took out the Grimhold, his eyes closed. Slowly he turned it so that he was sure the image faced him. Then he opened his eyes.

Truth be told it wasn't a perfect likeness. Balthazar always felt that the Incantus captured Veronica's strong spirit and defiance. The Grimhold made her look a little meek, almost delicate. The Veronica he had known had never been delicate in anything other than her looks. She had certainly never been meek either.

However, it had gotten her eyes right. There was a depth to them that the Incantus had never been able to capture. Maybe it had been the lack of color, maybe drawing techniques had improved, it didn't matter. The image on the Grimhold was good, and just knowing that she was so close sent energy coursing through his veins.

"I'm coming for you," he said, not knowing if she could hear him or not, "I promise you, I'm coming."

Balthazar hadn't expected an answer, but felt almost disappointed when there wasn't one.

"Stupid," he said.

Then, just in case she could hear, he added;

"Not you, me. That's all."

Feeling awkward he placed the Grimhold back into the safe and sealed it up. Then he picked up the Incantus and put it back on the table. It was beginning; all of it. If he had any luck then the world would be safe and his beloved free within the decade. Even if it wasn't then it was still coming soon.

Composing himself he glanced at the clock again. It read nine fifty-six. Plodding up the staircase he headed towards Dave's room. Balthazar considered knocking, and then dismissed the thought. Dave would be asleep, making knocking redundant. So he just turned the doorknob quietly and went in.

He hadn't been prepared for what he'd find. Dave's suitcase was open, its contents strewn around the room. He had been looking for something, and Balthazar could guess what. Dave's set of fifty markers had been unearthed. Several of them were missing from their spots and lying around as haphazardly as the rest of his suitcase's contents.

Dave had needed the markers in order to draw all over the walls. Alright, it was an exaggeration; he had only drawn on one of the walls. However, his doodles were done in a myriad of colors. The white plaster had absorbed the ink from markers well and Balthazar knew that he'd be hard pressed to get it out if he wanted to.

Fortunately, for both him and Dave, he didn't care. He'd meant what he'd said to Dave when he'd told him that it was his room. Balthazar rubbed his chin. The drawings weren't bad actually. Sure they were childish, but that could improve with work. It was something to think about if it could be incorporated into lessons.

A picture on the window caught his eye. Balthazar frowned. It looked like a giant gorilla being attacked by planes. At once he recognized it as a reference to _King Kong_, he had seen the movie, although he couldn't imagine why Dave had drawn that on the window. Then he squinted. Oh. Dave had drawn it so that it would line up with the view of the Empire State Building. Again he rubbed his chin. This child was alert to his surroundings.

Tearing his eyes away he walked next to Dave's bed and shook him awake. Dave pulled the covers off his head and looked blearily around.

"Welcome to the first day of your training," Balthazar said, "Rule number one; no sleeping in. Now let's get going."


	4. Chapter 4

Dave didn't know just what he had been expecting his training to be like. In his life Dave had seen dozens of movies about kids bequeathed with magical powers. Generally they just glossed over the actual training part though. At least he wasn't stupid enough to think that it would be just like _Harry Potter_, but he had expected magic to be involved.

"In _Harry Potter _kids got to do magic on their first day," Dave said aloud.

He had expected to be able to do that also. That was why getting sat down with the Incantus was disappointing. Dave sighed and flipped another ancient page. It was the third day that he had been doing it, and he was bored out of his mind. Regularly he liked reading, but this was just a little much. So much of it was history narrated in a dry tone, even if it was talking about the Sorcerous Wars of 100 A.D. in the Roman Empire.

There were also a lot of terms that he didn't understand. Dave's reading level for a ten-year old was advanced, but not advanced enough for some of his assigned sections. Some of them referenced pages in the 400's, but Dave hadn't been able to flip to that page. That section of the Incantus, referencing around 700 A.D, was off limits to him. He had asked Balthazar about it one day only to have him say sharply;

"You don't need to know that era."

Apparently he did though. Everything before it talked about how it would changed things, and everything after it talked about how it **had **changed things. From dong a lot of guess work Dave could only guess that it was something to do with Merlin. Once he had figured that out he had tried desperately to unstick the pages and read it. That would certainly be a lot more interesting than the other parts of the Incantus.

Frustrated he pushed the book away. Although he knew it was petty he glared at it. He felt like he was doing nothing and had come there for nothing. He hadn't come there to read; he had come there to learn magic. In the past few days he hadn't even seen Balthazar perform magic, let alone done any himself.

It wasn't fair and it didn't make sense to him. Wasn't he supposed to be training to become a sorcerer? Magic must be involved somewhere along the way. Why else did Balthazar think that he had been willing to follow a stranger? Why else did he think that Dave had left the only friend he'd ever had behind?  
>Yes, that was a big part of his frustration. While he had understood Balthazar's reasoning for having him leave Becky he didn't have to like it. When one left behind someone like Becky they liked there to be a good reason. He could understand that her safety was at risk and he needed to learn magic. Those were good reasons to leave her behind and go on to a new life. Reading a book was not.<p>

Loud footsteps came into the room. Dave looked up and saw Balthazar come in. He raised his eyebrows at the pushed away book and Dave looked away. What was he supposed to say? For all that Balthazar had done for him he was still more than just a little intimidated. Half the time he didn't know what to say to him.

"Done with your reading for the day?" asked Balthazar.

Dave shrugged. Balthazar snorted.

"I'll take that as a no," he said, "I probably should've set more reading parameters. Either way, grab the Incantus, get your shoes and jacket, and come with me."

Confused Dave scrambled to obey. Once he was ready Balthazar nodded at him and led him through a side passage in the Arcana Cabana. A staircase led down and into an underground tunnel. While the Arcana Cabana was no Hogwarts Dave was still impressed by the sheer amount of secret passages there. It made him feel like something a little magical really was going on after all.

When they stepped into the dark tunnel Balthazar snapped his fingers. Light formed in his hand and Dave stared enviously. When was he going to be able to do that? He kept his mouth shut though and followed him for five minutes. Then Balthazar took a right, a left, and then another right before leading Dave into a large chamber.

Balthazar snapped his fingers again and the lights turned on. Dave stared at the large room. Beneath his feet was more stone and there were large archways. Service overheads criss-crossed the ceiling and winding staircases led up. He set the Incantus on one of the many side tables and kept looking towards the tall ceiling.

"Awesome," he murmured.

"Glad you think so. Old subway turnarounds are always good for something," Balthazar said, "Now stand back."

"What?" asked Dave, redirecting his attention.  
>"Don't make me repeat myself."<p>

Awkwardly Dave took a few steps back and looked up for approval. Balthazar nodded at him and closed his eyes. Dave continued to stand there, wondering what was going to happen next. Suddenly green fire shot up from the ground. Dave let out a squeak and Balthazar moved his hands around like a conductor. Symbols were etched into the stone and the green fire seemed to flare up even higher.

"This Dave," said Balthazar when he was finished, "Is the Merlin's Circle. It helps a sorcerer focus his energy."

He nodded. He'd read something like this.

"I want you to think carefully about this. Once you step inside this Circle Dave," Balthazar continued, "There is no going back."

Dave's brow furrowed. He wondered if Balthazar meant that literally or figuratively. He hoped it wasn't literally. Just to clarify things he asked;

"So I should probably go to the bathroom first then?"

Balthazar gave him a flat stare.

"Better safe than…sorry…"

Dave trailed off before Balthazar's stare. Careful to avoid the flames he entered the circle. His eyes looked over all the different designs, wondering what they all meant. He hadn't gotten to that point in the Incantus yet and he knew they were important. For the moment he was more worried that he might catch fire though, and he kept his eyes on his shoes.

When he reached Balthazar he stopped. Balthazar's expression had changed somewhat, looking a little more intense.

"I am Balthazar Blake, Sorcerer of the 777th degree," said Balthazar stoically, "And you are, my apprentice."

Dave grinned. This was more like it.

"Sweet."


	5. Chapter 5

"First thing you need to do is to take off your shoes."

Dave blinked, but did so. He had been reading from the Incantus and by this point understood about electrical currents. Since they were doing this indoors he found no need to give him the appropriate sorcerer footwear just yet. He didn't want to give Dave the temptation to do magic outside of the practice room.

"Now, a basic combat spell," Balthazar said.

He watched Dave's face light up in excitement. Balthazar hadn't expected such an eager apprentice and it was disquieting. All his life he had prepared for a little reluctance. He himself had been more afraid of the powers he could potentially unleash when he was young than learning them. Dave couldn't wait to get started.

Perhaps it was the high exposure to violence or magic based games and movies. This might work in Dave's favor; the more he learned the more good he would be able to do later. It would speed the process up exponentially. Balthazar still didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"For instance," Balthazar said, extending his hand, "Fire."

Small flames flared up in his hand. Dave's eyes got bigger as he watched the fire grow bigger and bigger. Flicking his wrist Balthazar had the fire ball sent towards a trashcan on the other side of the room. Dave watched its progress until it fell in. The fire continued to burn in the metal can for a while until extinguishing itself from lack of fuel.

"Now then," said Balthazar, "They probably haven't taught you basic physics yet. But we're going to start simple, so it won't matter."

Something like a smirk appeared on Dave's face. Balthazar shot him a look and Dave quickly schooled his expression so it was neutral. It wasn't fooling anyone though.

"So," he said, "do you know what causes particles to heat up?"

"Collisions," answered Dave, "When particles collide heat is given off. The faster they collide, a better word might be vibrate, then the faster things heat up. The slower they collide the colder something is."

There was a pause and Dave smirked again.

"Physics 101 books in the orphanage for the older kids," said Dave, "Sometimes when I was bored I'd read them. I know this stuff."

Balthazar's eyebrow quirked. So Dave was going to take that tone about the situation, was he? Two could play that game.

"Alright," he said, keeping his tone even, "Then I trust you know how to do the spell then?"

Dave's smirk slipped.

"Well, no-"

"Because if you know so much then you should be able to do it on your own," Balthazar continued, "And my job as Master is finished. You can go out into the world and fight evil sorcerers like Horvath by yourself now. Go on."

The boy's smirk was gone now, turned into a frown.

"Another rule; showing off gets you nothing in this," he said, "And you very definitely do not know everything."

"But I was just trying to-" started Dave.

"No buts," interrupted Balthazar, "Do you want to know how to do it or do you want to continue to quote a textbook?"

"I'd like to learn," Dave said quietly.

"Good," Balthazar replied, "First step is to clear your mind."

"Okay."

"Next see the particles, got it?"

"That doesn't make any sense-"

"The next is to make them vibrate."

"How do you-?"

"And then, voila."

Fire spouted out of his hand. Balthazar closed his hand into a fist, quickly extinguishing the flame. Dave continued to stare at him.

"I didn't understand any of that."

"Don't try to understand," Balthazar said, "Just do."

"And that doesn't make any sense either," Dave muttered.

"Get over it," Balthazar said, "Just try to visualize it."

Still muttering under his breath Dave extended his ringed hand. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Nothing happened.

"I-" started Dave.

"You forgot the first step," Balthazar said, "You have to clear your mind. And one other thing."

He walked next to the boy. This was the part that he had dreaded during the training. It had been a stumbling block for all of Merlin's apprentices except Veronica. And they had never lost their parents to a car accident and gone through life sequestered. If that was how they dealt with it, then how was a small orphan boy supposed to deal with it?

"You have to believe that you can do it," said Balthazar said, "Can you do that?"

His apprentice's nose wrinkled.

"What, like believe in myself?"

"Something to that effect."

Dave lowered his hand and shook his head.

"What if I have, uh, a little difficulty with that?"

So he had been right to worry about it after all. Thinking Balthazar combed his fingers through his hair.

"You shouldn't," Balthazar said, "After all, allowing non-sorcerers to see fairies is a good indication of strong magical ability."

Shock spread across Dave's face. He had to stifle a laugh.

"How did you-?"

"Because I can read minds!"

Perhaps that had been going too far. He wasn't trying to actively mess with him after all. The look on Dave's face was priceless though.

"And Becky told me," Balthazar said.

Dave looked relieved.

"But I'm serious. This is, like I said, a basic combat spell. Just do the steps."

Taking another deep breath Dave closed his eyes again. He stretched out his hand and Balthazar saw the ring begin to glow. Fire flared there and Dave tentatively opened one eye.

"See?" asked Balthazar, masking his relief, "Nothing to it.


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N: _**_Before we begin I just want to say that w__hatever your feelings are for 'Road to El Dorado' it was actually a children's movie that would've come out in 2000 and fit into the time line. That's all. _

* * *

><p>Dave twisted his hands. He shouldn't feel so nervous about what he was asking for. It was an issue that was bound to come up sooner or later. He might be training to be a sorcerer, but he was still ten. That meant he qualified as a child at just about every restaurant and theme park, so he had certain things that he wanted.<p>

It wasn't as though he was asking to do anything unrealistic like go to Disney or anything. This was something that kids did, that they had allowed kids to do even at the orphanage. This was just something that parents knew kids were going to ask to do sooner or later.

However, just because it was going to come up didn't mean that Balthazar had thought of it. Balthazar was not, after all, his parent. He certainly didn't look like he'd thought of it, leaning up against one of the practice tables. Dave had the feeling that this was coming at a complete surprise to him. His Master was just staring at him like he'd spouted the world's greatest idiocy.

"Come again?" asked Balthazar.

He gulped.  
>"I'd like to see a movie," he said.<p>

Once again he was met with a blank stare.

"_The Road to El Dorado_," he said, twisting his hands behind his back again, "It comes out in a few days and I'd like to see it."

Vaguely aware that this wasn't quite sufficient he added;

"I saw some trailers on the TV. It looked really funny."

Balthazar continued to stare at him.

"It's about-"

"I'm aware of what it's about," said Balthazar, "I do watch television from time to time and new movies have an irritating habit of over-advertising themselves."

He rolled his eyes.

"I have to say that they got several historical points wrong. No one from 1519 Seville dressed like that."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," Balthazar said.

He rubbed his chin and looked at Dave thoughtfully. In the last month that he had lived under Balthazar's care Dave had come to dread that look.

"Tell you what," said Balthazar, "I'll make you a deal."

At one point Dave would've just accepted it and dealt with the consequences later. He'd quickly learned that doing that gave him a heap of regrets. His eagerness had had him scrubbing floors and washing dishes. Once it had even had him reorganizing the Arcana Cabana card catalog.

"Which entails?"

A smirk appeared on Balthazar's face.

"Remember how I showed you how to do plasma bolts yesterday?"

"Sorcerer's weapon of choice," nodded Dave.

"Glad to see you can remember that," Balthazar said, "Do it right and I'll take you. Popcorn is included. You can even name your day."

Dave regarded him suspiciously.

"Do you mean get it right on the first try or just get it right today?"

Balthazar laughed.

"You're getting discerning" Balthazar said, "That's good. But I meant today, as in until the end of the training session in two hours. I'm not insane."

He highly doubted that. Giving Balthazar a determined look he stepped inside the Merlin's Circle. The green flames shot up, but Dave had gotten used to them by now. Positioning himself inside of the middle circle he cracked his neck. He had found that the gesture helped him focus before doing spell work.

Dave extended his hands and moved them counter clockwise like he'd seen Balthazar do the day before, trying to form a few sparks. Nothing happened. Feeling underwhelmed but not discouraged Dave straightened himself. He made various attempts after that, clearing his mind and trying to ignore the fact that he was being watched closely. Eventually Balthazar got up and walked away. He returned a moment later with a cup of tea.

Frustrated and angry Dave stomped his foot on the ground. The next time he managed to get a spark, which died almost immediately in his hands.

"Again," Balthazar said.

The next one actually left the vicinity of his palms. In his excitement Dave cried out;

"Got it!"

When the sparks died a second later he slumped.

"Again."

Dave glared up at Balthazar. Oh yes, it was easy for him to say with his easy mastery and tea. More frustration was building up and Dave tried to whisk it away. He couldn't do magic when he was frustrated, something he had discovered during his early practices. The frustration didn't go away though, and it showed in his next few attempts at a plasma bolt. They were all just as pathetic as the first few.

"Again."

Furious Dave conjured up a plasma bolt. This time it didn't die, but instead flew out of his hands. He watched it make an angry and random path around the room, but it seemed to have one destination in mind. Before Dave could shout a warning it went to where Balthazar was and smashed his teacup. Dave blinked, looking up with a scared expression on his face. Balthazar, who was left holding the handle of the cup, glanced down at Dave.

At first Dave thought he was angry. He couldn't see how he wouldn't be. Yet, there wasn't any anger on his face, only puzzlement. Placing the handle in the saucer he said;

"Dave, calm down and try again."

He nodded, unsure of what else to do. This time the sparks formed in his hand again, creating a fully formed plasma bolt. Dave aimed it at a pillar and watched it fly straight, its path unwavering. It exploded onto the pillar, sparks flying everywhere. He held up his arms to shield himself from the light caused, and only peeked out after a moment.

There were scorch marks on the wall. From the overhead walkway he heard Balthazar do a slow clap.  
>"Looks like we're seeing a movie," he said.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

"One adult and one child for the ten o'clock showing for _The Road To El Dorado_," Balthazar said haltingly.

He wasn't used to ordering tickets for movies, and it showed. The woman who was selling tickets gave him a sympathetic glance. Balthazar could only assume that she figured his wife normally handled this. The assumption made him sad and frustrated at the same time. He'd have to learn how to do these sorts of things, and fast.

"That'll be ten dollars," she said.

Digging into his pocket he fished out a crinkled bill. Next to him Dave shifted from one foot to another, obviously excited.

"Here you go," she said, taking the tickets out of the machine, "And that's theater three on the left."

"Thanks," mumbled Balthazar, ushering Dave inside.

Beside him Dave smiled as he looked around. The theater half an hour away from the Arcana Cabana was bigger than Ashridge's town hall. He had probably never been in a place that big. Balthazar steered him towards the snack area where he allowed Dave to order popcorn, sodas, and M&M's. Of course Balthazar ended up carrying everything, but he didn't say anything. Dave had earned it.

Laden with fat, sugar, grease, and salt they entered the theater. A few children and their parents were already there, talking amongst themselves. Dave of course insisted on being in the very front row. When they had sat down Balthazar crinkled his nose at how close the screen was. In the past few decades when he had wanted to go to a movie he had tried to sit near the back. The screen now felt uncomfortably close.

Sighing he passed Dave the popcorn and one of the sodas. Even though the movie hadn't started Dave began eating the first greasy pieces. He offered some to Balthazar, but he declined. He hadn't the heart to tell Dave what went into movie theater popcorn and instead settled on telling Dave that he wasn't hungry.

Balthazar gave Dave a side glance when the trailers started. Although he would never say it, the fact that Balthazar had taken Dave to a movie scared him out of his mind. The reason for this wasn't that he had paid for overpriced tickets and snacks. It wasn't even that he was seeing a children's film in a confined space with bratty kids whose parents would spend most of the movie trying to shut them up.

No, it was the fact that it brought him to a startling realization; Dave was a human. By this point Balthazar was fully aware that he wasn't some sort of automaton. Dave required more than just being let out of his room to study from time to time. That was why Balthazar had gotten food and a TV. After that he had just let the fact that Dave was a child slip his mind as he tried to train him.

No, Dave was a human being, shown to him on the day that he made his first plasma bolt. Balthazar had had inklings that Dave might need emotional support on that day. He had trouble with self-confidence and believing in himself. However, when the boy showed him how frustrated and lost he was over the spell Balthazar had just barely managed to hold himself together.

His actions had shown Balthazar that no, Dave couldn't be treated like he was just there to learn spells. Dave was growing up and in need of support and encouragement. Balthazar had somehow managed to very calmly give him directions on what to do next. What he had wanted to do was have a full-blown panic attack.

The reasons for this were simple. Soon after Dave had been established as his apprentice Balthazar had done some background digging. Gereg had been kind enough to give him Dave's file, which included information all the way back to his great-great-grandparents. As far as Balthazar could find none of them had been sorcerers.

With that information he had gone to a family-tree research websites. They were in their infancy that year, but he could tell that they were going to be very popular soon. He had entered the information that he had about Dave and, for his troubles, was given a further three generations back. One of them had been an immigrant from England about fifteen years before the American Revolution named Jacob Stutler.

After that he had had to do his own research. Merlinians had records and resources not readily available to the public, and Balthazar had been quick to make use of them. Finally he had found that Jacob Stutler could be traced back to Godfrey the Marshall. Godfrey had had a fortune and political office but no real house affiliations. So he had married the daughter of an old but poor house. Her name had been, as Balthazar had expected, Ruth.

When he had found that out he had become immediately uneasy. He had tried to rationalize it. So Dave was related to Veronica. Dave's family history was interesting, but technically unimportant. It really didn't make any difference in the grand scheme of things, just made Balthazar's search a touch ironic. He had soon buried the information in his mind and tried to brush away the connotations.

The connotations stayed though. He had noticed, rather uncomfortably, that Dave was bookish. Dave was intelligent for his age, thoughtful, and quiet. In other words he was somewhat like Balthazar had been at his age. Sure he was cockier than Balthazar had been, more into drawing, and less athletic, but there was still a resemblance.

For weeks Balthazar had tried to push away the thought that Dave was the son he could've had with Veronica. Everything was there in plain sight, the behaviors and the looks. It was an angry, bitter thought. At the same time it was also strangely wistful. If Veronica had escaped imprisonment they would definitely have been married and could've had children.

Angrily he had pushed those thoughts away. Thinking like that wasn't going to get him anywhere. He was on a mission to save the world, not play the what-if game. What was past was past and what was done was done. Using emotional logic and possibilities was unlikely to help either himself or Dave.

Perhaps that had been why he had objectified the Prime Merlinian, tried to think of him only in terms of the boy who was going to grow up to save the world. He had started to see him primarily as a tool to reach his goals. Seeing him that way had simplified his life. It was hard to get emotional about a tool.

The fact that he had wanted to go out to a movie, be entertained and have a hobby in other words, banished those illusions. Dave was a child, not some tool to be used to save the world. He looked at him again out of the corner of his eye. As he watched him he got the feeling that he was in for a bumpy couple of years.


	8. Chapter 8

Dave was slow in solving the problem from his lesson. Geometry wasn't his favorite subject by far. Physics was better, even English. However, he knew that he needed to know geometry to know calculus to know physics. It was an odd interdependence that these subjects had on each other and he hated it.

One of the back rooms had been turned into 'the school room' shortly after his arrival. It was towards the back and had been used for storage. A few antiques were still in there, antiques that Dave was careful not to touch. There was a large bookcase filled with textbooks gotten from various eras. The Incantus was among them. Scattered around the room were piles of paper, calculators, notebooks, rulers, and various other school supplies.

If Dave ever needed anything he would get up and hunt through the various piles until he found what he was looking for. The search could take anywhere from five minutes to half an hour. Sometimes he wondered just where Balthazar had gotten all of these things from. In the end he'd dismissed it by simply telling himself;

"He's a sorcerer. He's supposed to be weird."

In the middle of the room was a large oak desk. The desk had been designed for an adult, probably some sort of college professor. Dozens of drawers folded out from it, each containing different types of pencils, sharpeners, protractors, erasers, and other things. It was like Balthazar had fit everything he could in there and then tossed the rest into the floor piles.

Dave was, of course, not an adult. He had had to stick one of the larger textbooks on top of his chair and then place a cushion over that to get to the required height. Although he tried to be dignified about it he knew that Balthazar had been secretly laughing. Like many things about Balthazar Dave had learned that he should just get over it.

Since Dave had never really liked his elementary school he hadn't batted an eye when being told he was going to be home schooled. He had long since recognized himself as anti-social and was living with it. It was actually a relief to not have to go out and try to fit in with the child population of the big apple.

Finishing up he turned to his next subject. He couldn't deny that geometry was helping his drawing skills. Balthazar had incorporated art into his studies. This wasn't the orphanage's art either. There weren't any beads, popsicle sticks, paper mache, glue, cardboard, or glitter. Instead there were charcoal pencils and books on perspective.

He wondered if there was any practical purpose to what he was doing. Sure, one of his subjects was magic. Physics helped with that and, like he'd realized, geometry helped with physics. English was just so he didn't make an idiot of himself if he had to write something. Running track was a way to get out of the house and try to improve his minute fitness. History again, related to magic and how people viewed the world.

So art was a little out of the blue. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful, because he was. He just didn't understand.

"I don't get that guy," Dave said aloud.

Getting out his sketchbook he opened it to page 156. Yes, he had been made to number them so they correlated with the assignments given. Balthazar rarely came in hourly to check up on him and he liked to see him doing work. Even art had to show some sort of gain in each of his instruction book's assignments.

Dave was improving. His doodles were showing a level of sophistication uncommon in someone his age. Balthazar had never praised Dave for it, but Dave wasn't stupid either. He knew that he was good at drawing. Having a hobby that had nothing to do with magic allowed him to rest up.

Today he was supposed to be drawing a person. Reaching into his pocket he took out an old photo. He sighed at the crinkled state that it had been reduced to. Dave had tried to preserve all the pictures that he had, but it wasn't enough. His parent's pictures held out better, being of a better make, but Becky's camera had been cheap. There was very little that he could do to save the pictures she had taken.

The particular picture that he had been looking it had been taken two days before Horvath appeared. Becky had liked snapping photos away with her instant camera, but she had always made sure that Dave had several. That made the picture a mere seven months old and already its colors were fading.

Sadly he put the picture to the front of his desk. A drawing would help preserve the picture. Maybe he'd even color it later and add himself in. For the moment he wanted to see if he was good enough to try something like that. The picture was dynamic and he thought that it would be a shame to see it decay because of his inability to save it.

In the picture Becky had her arms around his neck, in the very act of tackling him into a half hug. This wasn't the first time that she had done that. Many times he had cursed the timer on the camera. As for himself Dave looked surprised and, yes, he was blushing profusely. **That **was one color that hadn't faded.

Slow and careful he started to draw her with one of the charcoal pencils. It was difficult and he felt embarrassed how many times he had to look back up at the photo. Seven months was a long time normally but Dave was ten, making it near an eternity. In that time his recollections of what she had looked like were starting to fade.

Sighing he tried to figure out how to do her eyes. He had dreaded drawing this part of her face more than any other. Even as a child Dave had noticed how expressive her eyes were. They had been trying to see if they were telepathic, something that Becky believed was out there. They had spent five minutes just staring at each other before they'd given up. Dave hadn't really been trying though; the look of concentration on her face was too adorable to do so.

Becky had always been his polar opposite. Where he was quiet she was loud. When he preferred to slink into the shadows she was bursting full of life. She had been the one to take him out into the woods when he would've liked to remain inside all day. It had made him happy that someone like that had bothered to be friends with someone like him.

When he was finished he squinted at the picture. It wasn't very good. For all of his improvement he was still only ten. However, he resolved that he was going to get better. He couldn't afford to let any memory of his only friend fade away if he could help it. Nodding his head once he closed the sketch book and placed the photo back inside his pocket.


	9. Chapter 9

It was there in the cold dread that the wind carried. He could feel it in his fingertips and in the way people whispered in the streets. Like a horror movie his feeling of complete dread built up over time, wherever he went it was there. Buildings proclaimed it and children ran around laughing as though they were insane. At of all these children only Dave remained quiet, but it was the quiet before the storm and Balthazar knew it.

Christmas was coming and he was panicking. Usually it was around the more joyous holidays that he got the most depressed. The bigger the holiday the more bitter he became. Any holiday celebrating family and friends was especially detested. Balthazar had no family now, and he doubted that he would make any friends due to their transient life spans.

Christmas was an especially bad holiday for him. His overwhelming feelings of gloom made him go forth and buy several bottles of expensive malt whiskey. This he would consume on the twilight of Christmas Eve and go straight drinking until Christmas. Then he would only have to deal with the hangover on Boxing Day.

This year that was out of the question. He had, and he shuddered to think it, a responsibility. While he was still trying to keep Dave at an arm's length there were certain things he needed to take into account. As a Master he was expected to be a role model to Dave and role models didn't go around getting drunk. Dave wasn't supposed to pick up any of his more unsavory habits.

The incident with the movie had also shown him that Dave liked living. Dave had certain expectations from this time of year. Unlike the movie Dave hadn't asked if they were going to have Christmas. He knew they were going to have it. That made it difficult to tell him that Balthazar had no idea what to do and no wish to do anything. In the end, after struggling with himself, he gave up on the idea of trying to fight his fate.

So at the beginning of December he started doing some research. Christmas now was not the Christmas he had gotten used to as a child. For one thing it was only done on two days and a good deal less feasting was involved. There were more presents though and somehow a damn tree had gotten mixed up in it all. Where the hell had that come from?

Some research at the library had revealed the answers. Oh, the tree had come from Germany. Trust those Germans to screw some foliage into the holiday. And the English, his own home country, with their stupid stockings. Now he was going to have to get Dave a damned huge sock to hang up somewhere. He drew the line at dressing up like Santa though. No way in hell was he doing that.

So, one day when Dave was studying he went out and got the necessary items. He couldn't feel much mirth as he did it though. The tree and ornaments meant nothing to him as they did to so many people. There was no nostalgia there, no memory of making popcorn strings and gingerbread men. His nostalgia was, literally, history.

With magical aid Balthazar managed to have the whole store decorated by the dinner time. Dave trudged out of the school room and stared wide-eyed at all the decorations. He seemed especially enthralled by the tree with its lights and glass ornaments. Balthazar, sipping coffee and leaning up against the counter, had watched him with interest.

Finally Dave had turned to him and said, with a note of wonder in his voice,

"You must really like Christmas."

Balthazar nearly dropped the cup of coffee.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, you wanted to do all the decorating yourself," Dave pointed, "And this is pretty awesome."

Despite himself Balthazar felt pride in what he'd done. He wanted to acknowledge the compliment, but instead he said;

"Of course it is. I did it."

Over the next month Balthazar had found another thing to agonize over; presents. One of them was obvious. Dave had made no secret of the fact that he wanted a camera. There was one upstairs that he felt would do perfect for a ten-year old. Still, one present did seem to be a bit on the cheap side.

So he had thought that over while he made the usual purchases of candy for a stocking. Balthazar had gotten himself one, as self-serving as it had seemed. He didn't want to make Dave feel awkward if he was the only one with something to open. He had bought candy of all types to get a sufficient bulk going. There was also going to be oranges; something in a book said they were traditional.

He had settled on getting him _Treasure Island _since Dave had once expressed an interest in it and a few other books. He wrapped them on Christmas Eve and laid them out under the tree. Dave apparently still believed in Santa Claus, so Balthazar was able to help himself to several cookies and a glass of milk before going off to bed

For some time Balthazar had been under the impression that he had had the whole Christmas thing covered. He had thought that he had planned for everything, every different contingency that could possibly happen. Then Dave came barreling into his room at 5 a.m. begging to be let down to open his presents. There had been nothing in the books about this. Balthazar felt that there should've been.

Nonetheless he had gotten up and watched Dave tear down the stairs. He'd gotten into his stocking first and looked at the orange with puzzlement. Perhaps the book wasn't as up-to-date as hit should've been. Balthazar was starting to think that he should have a word with the publisher about adding another chapter.

With candy cane in mouth Dave had started to open presents. His enthusiasm over the books surprised Balthazar. When asked he shrugged and replied;

"Hey, it's not clothes."

Balthazar decided not to comment on that. As expected Dave got a huge kick out of the camera. He took several pictures of the tree, wrapping paper, one of an irate Balthazar, and one of his thumb by accident. He had sheepishly put it down after Balthazar had told him that he was going to end up breaking the thing.

By far the most surprising moment of the day was when Dave handed Balthazar a package. While Balthazar had been giving Dave a weekly allowance, two dollars since he didn't believe that kids should have too much money, he was surprised. He didn't know that Dave had been willing to put the time and effort into getting Balthazar a gift.

Carefully Balthazar unwrapped it. He ended up having to resort to magic since Dave had decided to completely cocoon it in tape. It turned out to be a tea cup. He raised an eyebrow.

"Since I, you know, broke the other one," Dave replied sheepishly.

Balthazar began laughing. Dave ended up joining in too. Wiping a few tears away Balthazar managed a;

"Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

Saturday morning cartoons were one of Dave's simple pleasures. At the orphanage the battle over the remote control was often fierce. Kids had gotten bruises, scrapes, and sprains over the ever running battle. It was often life or death, the overall violence of it haunting Dave's nightmares. The adult attendants rarely ever intervened in these battles; mostly because all of the fighting that actually injured people was carefully orchestrated to happen behind their backs.

So Dave, being small and weak, had never gotten control over the TV. Most of the time he never even tried for fear of injury. Sometimes when Becky was over she'd get it and ask him what he wanted to watch. Being James Barnes' daughter they of course let her have the remote, giving her hostile stares whenever she got it. She never seemed to notice that though, and Dave wasn't inclined to tell her.

At the Arcana Cabana though, the TV was all his. While it only had twenty channels, they were still twenty channels that Dave could pick through. He decided what to watch and there was no one who would contest him. On occasion he would imagine other kids who tried to and he'd blast them away and come out triumphant.

His control wasn't entirely true of course. Whenever Balthazar was in the house he would steer clear of the TV. He remembered Balthazar once saying;

"That thing turns people's brains into sponges, absorbing what biased media and advertisers want us to believe."

On occasions like these Dave got the uncomfortable feeling that Balthazar was not actually in his thirties. He wouldn't ask though, and on Saturday mornings he had no reason to get into an argument with him over it. Balthazar had homeschooling running from Monday until Friday, so Saturdays were free. He didn't particularly care what _Cartoon Network_ or _Toon Disney_ was showing that morning as long as it was showing something that he could watch while eating cereal in his pajamas.

On most Saturday mornings Balthazar was out doing something or other so Dave had free reign of the TV. By the time Balthazar had returned Dave had finished, was dressed, and ready to do something that day. Balthazar never asked what he had been doing that morning, and Dave had never seen a reason for explaining.

So that Saturday morning he rolled out of bed. There wasn't any cereal in the house except for Balthazar's fiber stuff, which Dave wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. He instead settled for pop-tarts, grabbed a glass of milk, and settled down on a couch. He flipped the TV on and went straight to channel 15, _Toon Disney_.

He wondered if _House of Mouse _or _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command _were on. Another similar show might be on too, which would be good as well. Dave was a big toy story fan, and he quite liked the space ranger series. He got his timing right and found himself watching half an hour of slapstick space humor while he slowly ate his pop-tart.

It wasn't a double feature though and the next show could be anything. He grimaced at the thought that it could be one of those shows about the Disney Princesses that Becky was so fond of. He hated those shows with a passion, although he'd never told her. If it was then he'd just flip the channel.

Luckily for him _Gargoyles _was on. He liked the show because it was about magical creatures living in secret places in New York City. There were mutants in the sewers, magicians in skyscrapers, and yes, gargoyles in clock towers. There was also a lot of action and humor and he liked it whenever an episode came on.

Just as he was about to finish his second chocolate fudge sundae pop-tart the door opened. Blinking he watched as Balthazar came in and locked the door behind him. For over ten months Balthazar had never been present during his cartoon viewing time. This was unprecedented, and Dave did the only thing he could do. He stared at him, uneaten pop-tart in his mouth, unable to say a word.

"You should swallow your food before it rots your teeth," Balthazar said.

Accordingly Dave did so, still staring. Balthazar rolled his eyes and was about to walk by when he saw that the TV was on. Frowning he stood by the couch and watched the opening of _Gargoyles_. Dave nervously watched him as the theme music played and Vikings grappled with ancient, mythological beasts. About the time that Goliath, the show's protagonist, announced 'We live again!' Balthazar turned to Dave and asked;

"What is this?"

"Cartoon show," Dave mumbled.

Balthazar's frown deepened.

"I know that," Balthazar said, "I can see that because of the fact that it's animated. Now, what's it called?"

"_Gargoyles_…"

"And it's about?"

Dave gave him a blank look.

"_Gargoyles_."

"Don't try and be smart with me," Balthazar said, "Now, tell me what it's about without stating the obvious."

"Um…"

"Dave."

"Gargoyles from medieval times who get trapped for a thousand years, transported to New York City, magically revived, and fight bad guys ranging from corporate scientists to Macbeth along with their cop friends," Dave blurted.

Almost immediately Dave wished he had just kept to repeating the show's title. Balthazar raised an eyebrow and turned his attention back to the screen. One of his hands picked up the remote thoughtfully. He continued to watch for a few minutes while Dave kept his eyes glued on the remote. Balthazar might have been his master but he was willing to fight him for the remote, even if he knew he'd lose.

After some time Balthazar shrugged and said;

"Could be worse."

Then, without another word, Balthazar put the remote back on the couch. Then he turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Letting go of the breath he'd been holding Dave turned his attention back to the cartoon. It would take him another half hour for him to get over the sheer terror of the moment though.


	11. Chapter 11

**_A/N: _**_I'm going to be going on a road trip in a few days so I won't be able to post as frequently. Just a warning; updates are probably going to be kind of erratic after Thursday.  
><em>

* * *

><p>Balthazar looks around him at the hustle and bustle of the street. Mostly it was tourists, how he hates them. Although he's been a globe trotter most of his life he's never considered himself a tourist. Balthazar has never gone out of his way to see the sights for one, and his trips had always been strictly business.<p>

"Why are we in Chinatown again? And why can't we have driven."

He looked down at Dave, who stared at the street around him with wide eyes. Balthazar had figured a little practical trip couldn't hurt. In a year or two he'd be sending Dave off to run these errands for him. He was already sending him for things two or three streets over. He'd work his way up to Chinatown eventually.

"Herbs," Balthazar said, "There's an apothecary on the next street. An associate of mine lives there who runs a supply line to Merlinians in the city on the side. As for your second question the traffic at this time of the day is atrocious."

"Oh," said Dave, still looking around, "Why are there all these people?"

"Chinese New Year," replied Balthazar, pushing his way through a particularly thick throng of tourists, "Lots of tourists like to be here for it. There might also be a parade here in an hour…no, five minutes. Damn."

He had abandoned any attempts not to swear around his apprentice. It wasn't like it was something he hadn't heard before.

"I thought the new year was in December."

"Different country, different traditions," Balthazar said dismissively, "It happens in a few days. Year of the Snake this year."

Dave struggled to keep up. He seemed to be having as hard a time dealing with the crowds as Balthazar did. His new pointy shoes were giving him trouble too. Dave had the noted advantage of being smaller though. While his size also caused problems Balthazar did envy him in their particular situation. He had never been very good with crowds.

"And that means…?"

"Not entirely sure. I never did pay attention during our astrology lessons," Balthazar answered, having to push his way through again, "But in the Chinese Zodiac snakes are planners and schemers. Highly intelligent, that sort of thing. This is…I think that this is the metal snake, so that means extreme single-mindedness."

"What's the point of knowing that?"

Balthazar shrugged.

"My Master used to use different zodiacs for divination. He said that all of them were best used together instead of separately."

"He could see into the future?" asked Dave, excited.

Inwardly Balthazar cursed himself. It just went to show that you shouldn't try to talk and walk. Despite his knowledge of Dave's humanity he was not prepared to share personal memories with him. That included, but was not limited to, his Master, Horvath, and especially Veronica.

At the same time he didn't want Dave asking questions. Most of Dave's questions were innocent enough and good teaching prompts. Questions like 'who was your Master?' would be problems. Dave wasn't supposed to know that he was the Prime Merlinian yet. He'd tell him in his own time and when Balthazar thought he was ready. Not a moment before.

"Sometimes," Balthazar said shortly, "I never had the knack for it myself."

He bit off the sentence 'none of us did'. Dave looked disappointed but didn't say anything. It was good. He was tiring of the talk and he could see the apothecary on the left side of the street. Luckily for him that street was relatively abandoned since it didn't offer a very good view of the upcoming parade.

"Stay outside Dave," he said.

"Why?" he complained, "I just went through the crowd and I'm not even allowed in?"

"Don't argue."

"It's not fair!" insisted Dave.

"Dave," Balthazar said, frustrated, "Trust me when I say you are not ready to see this. Few people your age are."

Dave's eyes widened. Balthazar rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn't had this lecture with Dave yet, and that moment seemed to be a bad time. However, he couldn't just leave his apprentice on that note. He didn't want him having nightmares in the upcoming days about how things could have been.

"Look," said Balthazar, "Do you know what an goblin is?"

Dave nodded.

"What most books tell you is that they look…bad," said Balthazar, deciding for the understatement, "But they are extremely clever and sometimes helpful. I know a few, the one inside being one of them."

He paused and collected his thoughts.

"You see, there are some sentient creatures who…dwell in the magical realm. Some of them are nice, some are not. Few are good to look at and all hate to be stared at. It's not a good combination. When you're older, and learn not to freak out, then I'll take you inside. Okay?"

Dave nodded again, his eyes still wide.

"Excellent," Balthazar said, "Now, I should be no more than ten minutes. Stay here and don't talk to strangers. Got it?"

"Yes Balthazar."

With a nod of his head Balthazar walked into the shop. The human who dwelled behind the counter knew him well enough that he just directed him to the back room. He always wondered if the man knew what was really going on or not. He figured he didn't. Balthazar gave him a slight nod and headed back into the dimly lit second store through a bead curtain. Goblins tended not to like light; they didn't much care how they looked either.

As soon as he came in he noticed something was wrong. The smell for one. Goblins liked bad smells but this was something different. Wrinkling his nose he let his eyes adjust. When they did so he saw a dark stain on the floor. His eyes widened as he recognized the smell of decomposition.

Something grabbed his arm and jerked him back. Balthazar saw too late that it was the strings of beads from the curtain. Each one pinned his arm down. As he began struggling he saw the human from the counter walk forward. Even before the features had melted away to the caster's true form Balthazar had assumed his glare.

"Fancy meeting you here," Horvath said.


	12. Chapter 12

"You need some better lines," grimaced Balthazar.

"Temper temper," Horvath admonished, "It's been the work of a very long year trying to find you you know."

"I try."

"But you always did have a soft spot for this city," Horvath said, ignoring Balthazar's comment, "And I knew where all the biggest magical supply stores were. It was only luck that I managed to be here when you came in."

Balthazar's thoughts went to Dave outside. Horvath couldn't know that he was out there if he'd been in there all that time. Dave was safe as long as he remained outside and Horvath was inside. If Horvath recognized him though Balthazar couldn't guarantee that. He'd have to figure his way out of his predicament.

"I'm not known for being lucky," Balthazar said.

Horvath gave him a thin-lipped smile.

"So…where's the Grimhold?"

"Use the magic word Horvath."

His smile turned to into a sneer and Balthazar felt a string of beads wrap around his throat. It tightened just enough to bruise, but didn't cut off his airway entirely.

"Tell me."

"Still…not…using…magic word."

"We don't have time for this."

The voice cut through the air like a knife, sharp and irritated. Balthazar felt his blood chill as Morgana strode in from a side room. She looked older than when Balthazar had last seen her. More wrinkles had penetrated her face and he could see white in her red hair. Evidently not even the longevity spells were enough to keep her in peak condition.

He had always thought she looked like a harpy, even when she was young. Now she looked more like a corpse.

"Balthazar," she said, "We're asking nicely where the Grimhold is. I can make you talk you know."

"Been…tortured before…"

Morgana smirked.

"Not by me," she said, "Didn't your darling Veronica tell you anything?"

The ice in his blood was replaced by fire. He could still remember when she had first gone missing and they had scoured the countryside for her. When they had found her two weeks later lacerations and burns had covered her skin. Her face had swelled up from the bruises and Balthazar had suspected thumbscrews had been involved.

All of it had been healed and Veronica had returned to combat Morgana, her resilience astounding. However, it still made him see red to think about it.

"I see she did," Morgana said, "Now, Horvath here isn't as…shall we say…**creative **as I am when it comes to such matters."

She gave him the look a mother wolf does when her prey feeds for the first time.

"He tries, but there's no substitute for the real thing."

Morgana clapped her hands together cheerfully.

"So there's two ways this can go," she said, "We can do this the hard way, which is very fun for me, or we can do this the easy way. Which will it be?"

"Is this…even…a question?"

She nodded then.

"I thought it would be that way," she said, "Horvath, would you-?"

Whatever she had wanted to ask Horvath was drowned out as the door opened and a series of plasma bolts were flung into the shop. Horvath lost concentration on the spell holding Balthazar, who wasted no time in freeing himself and making a run for it. On any normal day he would be able to take Horvath. He would never be able to take Horvath **and **Morgana though. Merlin's keep had proved that.

Seeing him escaping Horvath shot flames at Balthazar. He put up a shield and continued his progress towards the door. Morgana added her flames to Horvath's, shattering Balthazar's shield and knocking him back into the street. He landed on his back, smashing into the pavement and clipping his head on the curb.

Fighting the pain Balthazar stumbled upwards, trying to regain his balance and focus. He saw Dave looking at him with wide eyes, another plasma bolt already forming in his hands. The boy looked scared, but uninjured. He didn't know how long that state was going to last though. Morgana and Horvath were at the door, coming out.

"Dave!" he yelled, "You should run!"

Without looking over his shoulder Dave tossed the plasma bolt and hurried to Balthazar's side. Morgana swatted the spell aside and watched as Dave reached Balthazar. Knowing that Dave was safe Balthazar glared at the two of them defiantly in the crowded street. His ring was glowing and ready.

"You have an apprentice," Morgana noticed, her voice venomous, "You're only supposed to have **one** of those Balthazar."

He saw Horvath's eyes trail over to Dave. They narrowed.

"He wears the ring."

"I see," said Morgana.

Her face was somewhere between fury and terror. Dave looked up at him questioningly but Balthazar didn't have the time for questions. With a wave of his hand confetti flowed into the street, effectively blocking out a spectator's view of them. It also acted as a smoke screen; no one could see anything, least of all Morgana and Horvath.

Not bothering to warn him Balthazar scooped up Dave and started running. Dave gave a squeak of surprise and protest. He only paid minimal attention to it though. At the rate they were going they'd be able to reach the nearest subway station soon. From there they had to get to the Arcana Cabana and from there…he'd figure it out when he got there.

"It only lasts for a few minutes," Balthazar said, "And we need to get the hell out of here as fast as possible. You're not fast enough."

"I am!"

"Not as fast as I am," said Balthazar.

This was true. He had more to run from.

"You didn't run from him last time," Dave answered.

From behind them fire incinerated part of the confetti cloud. Ash and fire filled the air.

"She wasn't there last time," snapped Balthazar, "Now stop making noise."


	13. Chapter 13

The subway trip back to the Arcana Cabana was a silent one. Dave went over the scene in Chinatown over and over again. He knew that technically he shouldn't have been peeking into the store. The parade was boring him though, since he didn't have a good view, and he had never seen a goblin before.

Seeing Horvath again through the glass of the door had been terrifying. The man had almost killed him. The other woman was horrible to look at too, but for a different reason. Dave had contemplated running away, but he wasn't just a boy at the orphanage anymore. No, he was an apprentice sorcerer and he was going to act like one.

With that in mind he'd attacked. He had attacked. Him. Dave, the boy who had only ever taken punches, tripped during tag, gotten teased, and read all the time, had attacked. The thought was electrifying. The more he thought about it the more he liked the sound of it. He could finally do something to defend himself. Dave wouldn't need to run anymore.

So being picked up and fled with directly after was more than just a little confusing. Surely they weren't supposed to run. He began to pluck up the courage to ask about that when Balthazar started to unlock the door to the Arcana Cabana. He'd just figured out the perfect wording when Balthazar said;

"Pack your bags."

"Why?" asked Dave.

"We're leaving."

The words left Dave reeling in shock. What was going on?

"Well where are we gonna go?" Dave asked.

"Somewhere far away from New York. Not the city, the state. I'll figure it out exactly on the way. Now don't ask any more questions and go pack."

Balthazar turned on his heel and strode down the hallway. Dave gaped once or twice and then hurried after him. This wasn't an order he could follow blindly. This wasn't something that he could leave unquestioned. No, he had to figure this out. He couldn't leave New York after all. The city; yes. The state; no. It was the only place he'd ever known. His parents were from New York. He'd been born in New York. Becky was in New York.

Dave admitted that it was silly to think of Becky as a reason for staying. He had realized, several months after he left Ashridge, that he was most likely never going to see her again. Things would probably work out to where he would never see his best friend and first crush ever again. It was a hard truth. Yet, he had probably known that when he had originally left. Dave had just lied to the two of them to make things easier. The idea of not even having that as a vague possibility was more than he could bear.

"Why?" he demanded.

"I thought I told you not to ask any more questions. And isn't it obvious?" Balthazar snapped, crouching down in front of a wall.

"No!" snapped Dave, "We're the good guys! We're not supposed to run from the bad guys!"

All he got in answer was a snort. Anger welled up in him as Balthazar splayed his hands against the bricks of the wall. He didn't know what Balthazar was doing and he didn't care. All he knew was that he was being ignored and told to take the coward's way out. Hands clenching into fists Dave shouted;

"Aren't you a sorcerer? Sorcerers aren't supposed to run!"

Balthazar's head turned slowly to face him.

"Dave," Balthazar said, his tone flat, "Do you remember when I first met you I told you that sorcerers were divided into Merlinians and Morganians?"

Although he was puzzled at the question Dave nodded.

"Now, tell me which were the bad ones. Tell me what Horvath is."

"A Morganian," said Dave impatiently.

"Right," Balthazar said, "Now, remember that woman who was with Horvath?"

He didn't give Dave time to answer.

"**That **was Morgana le Faye. That's right, **Morgana**," said Balthazar, "As in the original. The definitive. The inspiration."

Understanding dawned. Balthazar nodded at his expression and opened up a section of the wall. Not even this broke Dave from the horror of his new discovery.

"What does she want with us?"

Balthazar took something out of the compartment. It looked something like a Russian Nesting doll. Dave didn't get a good look at it though.

"This is called the Grimhold," said Balthazar, placing it in a worn travel bag along with several other items, "Inside is sealed half to a very powerful spell that Morgana wants to use to enslave humanity. She doesn't have the power to open it; it takes a very specific type of power for that. But she liked to keep it with her in case she got it. I took it from Horvath, her right hand man, the night I rescued you."

Dave gulped. This was more information than he was expecting.

"If it's so dangerous then destroy it."

"**NO**!" yelled Balthazar.

Immediately Dave took a step back. Balthazar ran a hand through his hair.

"I can't," he said, "I don't have the power. All we can do is try and guard it."

With hesitation Dave took a step forwards so that he was where he originally was.

"Why did they comment on my ring?"

He saw Balthazar pause as though considering the question.

"It's a powerful artifact Dave," he sighed, "It means you're going to be a very powerful sorcerer one day."

Dave looked down at his ring. He felt apprehension swelling in his throat. No, he wasn't going to be a powerful anything. Someone had it wrong.

"They know we're in the city now," said Balthazar, "It's not safe to be here. I need you to go upstairs and then we're getting out. Maybe take a plane in another state. I don't know. But we need to get out of here. So Dave, go and pack."

Nodding reluctantly Dave headed upstairs.


	14. Chapter 14

**_A/N: _**_I'm losing internet tonight so I decided to update twice today. I hope to get things back to thier usually daily schedule soon. _

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><p>God forgive him for the lies he told to Dave, but they were necessary. And they hadn't really been lies as much as omissions of the truth. Yes, the spell was inside the Grimhold. Yet, the Grimhold could be destroyed. Balthazar also knew how. Veronica was in there at the same time though, and he couldn't allow anything to happen to her.<p>

And yes, the ring did indicate that Dave was going to be a very powerful sorcerer; the Prime Merlinian. He couldn't tell him that either though. He hadn't even been training him for a year yet. Sure, a year was fast approaching, but it wasn't quite a year. Dave had gotten lucky in the fight with Morgana and Horvath. He doubted that that luck would hold.

Dave, with so few possessions, hadn't taken long to pack. Everything he had fit neatly into the suitcase that he'd first brought with him. He travelled light, materially at least. It was just another thing that Balthazar liked about his apprentice. Few words, except for his unnecessary protests about leaving, and he was quick to act. That sort of thinking was going to come in handy.

His sad eyes and sighing were somewhat irritating. He couldn't understand how the boy had built up such an attachment to the Arcana Cabana. He hadn't been there for long. Dave had left the orphanage easier and he'd been there for six years. Balthazar didn't understand children at all, and he doubted he would even if he lived to his second millennium.

At the same time he wasn't completely heartless. Moving around so much must have been difficult for Dave. His life had consisted of him getting tossed from one place to another. It actually made Balthazar feel guilty for uprooting him again. He comforted himself with the knowledge that it was completely necessary.

With Horvath chasing them Balthazar knew that he needed to get out of the city and out of the state. It only occurred to him on the drive to New Jersey that they should probably also get out of the country. He could forge passports easily enough, and he doubted that they'd suspect leaving the country. Somewhere in Europe would be perfect.

It did feel strange to leave. Balthazar had had a fondness for America for a long time. Both its complexity and size had made it ideal to travel in. A country like China or Russia was good for the same reason, but America had so many different immigrant groups. The amount of the diversity allowed him to blend in better. That was why, when he realized searching was pointless and the Prime Merlinian would most likely come to him, he had decided to settle in New York City. It embodied the mixed feel of the country.

Still, his fondness for a place wasn't worth his life or that of his apprentice. In times past he would just leave the city and keep his head down for a few months. Now Morgana and Horvath knew he had the Prime Merlinian and he knew they weren't about to let that go. It was understandable. The Prime Merlinian was predicted to be the one sorcerer who could destroy Morgana. They probably took a very dim view of this.

No, it would take more than just a few months to shake them off. In the past he would have counted on their short attention spans, but he wasn't willing to bet on that anymore. They would continue searching until they found him or until a new crisis took their attention. He wouldn't be back to New York for years, if ever.

Having such a young child with him as a whole complicated things. Despite himself he had been impressed at how quickly Dave had jumped into the fight. He had done rather well, all things considering, even if he had been extraordinarily lucky. In his experience Balthazar had found that most things came down to luck though, so he wasn't going to begrudge Dave his small victory. At the same time he was going to make sure that it didn't swell his head.

Driving the Phantom at full speed he had managed to get out of New York and into New Jersey in a few hours time. From his experience he knew where he could find an airport nearby that had storage for his beloved car. It hurt but he knew there was no way for him to take the car with him. He'd have to transfigure it and get it impounded somewhere. It was the only way it would keep for enough years without the airport auctioning it off.

Balthazar managed to do it all quickly, Dave watching all the while. He hoped the boy was picking up some tips from this. When his apprentice became a Master he'd have to make his own travel arrangements. Even though the situation was dire he went out of his way to instruct him on how to buy tickets on the fly and read flight schedules. Dave had nodded a lot, so he assumed that he understood. He had trouble with many of the flight schedules, especially the international one.

That was a shame, since that was the one they were going to use. He had pondered over various destinations until he decided on England. It was literally the last place that Horvath would look for him in. While Balthazar still had some associates there Horvath knew that he avoided it like the plague. There were so many painful memories there.

For that very reason it was perfect. So he bought two tickets for the closest flight and rushed them through security. By the time Morgana and Horvath knew he was gone then they'd be over the Atlantic. Not even Morgana could do something about that, if they even knew where they were going. He'd been careful enough to use false names and erase all airport staff's memory of the duo.

Before boarding the plane Balthazar placed a call to an old sorcerer named Ambrosius. He had been the apprentice of an apprentice of one of Merlin's contemporaries and was thus a few centuries younger than Balthazar. He had been the one to inherit Merlin's Keep when all was said and done. He had turned it into a haven for sorcerers, something that was prized at a time when magic was starting to be persecuted as the Devil's craft.

Nowadays, when most belief about magic was gone, few sorcerers still needed that protection. Some circumstances did force sorcerers underground though, and the Keep was still guarded with strong spells. Now there was only one sorcerer besides Ambrosius still living there. There was also an apprentice, but it would be welcome. Having extra sorcerers around would be good if Horvath and Morgana stirred up trouble.

Balthazar also thought it good that Dave would have a chance to train where his ancestor had lived. His identity as the Prime Merlinian would have to be kept secret, even from Ambrosius. If Balthazar was lucky he would be able to keep his own identity secret from the other sorcerers at the Keep.

He told Ambrosius a lie about how Dave was the apprentice of a friend who had been trapped in a mirror by his enemies for a few years. He had promised to look after him until the sorcerer's time in the object ran out. It was plausible enough for it to work. He repeated it back to Dave as well as his new last name so that he knew exactly what to say when the time came. It couldn't hurt to be careful.


	15. Chapter 15

**_A/N: _**_So I got the dates mixed up. Internet goes tomorrow afternoon. Just keep the extra chapter as a bonus. ;)  
><em>

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><p>As much as Dave hated that he was so far away from everything he'd know, he had to admit that living in a castle was kind of cool. For one thing it made him feel like he was really a sorcerer. Sorcerers always lived in castles or towers in his books. For another thing, well, he was living in a <strong>castle<strong>.

When they drove up in the rental car he saw Balthazar's knuckles go white. Dave didn't understand why that was but decided not to ask him. His Master had been stressed out ever since they had run into Horvath and Morgana. Dave decided that it was just the threat of imminent death that was making him cautious. Dave knew that it was scaring him, so it should at least be making Balthazar cautious.

They got out and retrieved the luggage from the trunk of the car. Suitcases in hand they walked up to the entrance. He was surprised at the sight that met him. The oldest man that Dave had ever seen was sitting in a wheelchair. His white beard went down to his chest which Dave thought odd since he was otherwise bald. Even his eyebrows seemed non-existent. His wrinkles made his skin look like a chicken's and glasses were perched on the tip of his nose.

As they approached the man looked down at Dave. The gesture caused his glasses to quiver precariously.

"This him?" he asked.

Balthazar nodded.

"Ambrosius, I'd like you to meet David Collins," he said.

"Nice to meet you sir," mumbled Dave, still fascinated by the way the glasses were quivering.

"Don't mumble," Ambrosius snapped.

Dave resisted the urge to slink away.

"Nice to meet you sir," he repeated loudly.

Ambrosius grimaced. He reached into his ear and took out a hearing aid.

"Damn thing," he said.

Turning the dial on the side all the way up he shoved it back in his ear.

"Now, what was that you were saying again?" he asked.

"Nice to meet you sir," Dave repeated for the third, and hopefully last, time.

"Hmph," said Ambrosius, "Well, David Collins, Balthazar told me your Master got stuck in an urn."

"Yes sir," Dave replied, disappointed to see the glasses stop wobbling.

Shaking his head Ambrosius tilted his head towards Balthazar.

"Han dynasty?" he asked.

Looking grim Balthazar nodded his head.

"Told you you should've gotten rid of that," said Ambrosius, turning his head back to Dave, "But this one has manners apparently. Better manners then the last apprentice who was here anyway."

"There are other children here?" Dave asked.

The question was more cautious than hopeful. He had gotten comfortable with not having a million screaming kids his age around him. It had been quiet, and Dave liked it quiet. Also, with his natural shy and anti-social tendencies he was something of a bully magnet. Hearing that there were other children, even magical children, made his heart sink.

"One," snorted Ambrosius, "He's out with his Master. Should be back in a few days."

Dave felt relieved. At least he wouldn't have much contact if there was only one. Ambrosius shifted the wheels on his wheelchair and rolled himself inside.  
>"Follow me if you don't want to get left behind."<p>

As they started away Dave whispered to Baltahzar;

"I didn't know sorcerers got that old."

Balthazar gave him an amused look.

"Sorcerers are humans with a few extra abilities," said Balthazar, "Remember, what's the only difference between sorcerers and humans?"

"Humans can only use ten percent of their brains and sorcerers can use it all," Dave recited dutifully.

"And humans age Dave," said Balthazar, smirking, "Did you have some pretentions about immortality?"

Dave shook his head.

"No…I just thought…"

"You should think better next time," Balthazar interrupted, "But Ambrosius looks good for his age Dave."

"Really?" asked Dave, doubt showing in his voice, "How old is he?"

"Oh, let me see here," Balthazar said, rubbing his chin, "Born in that year…carry the two…subtract the three…ah. He's a thousand years old."

Dave stopped walking.

"A thousand?" he squeaked.

"You heard me right," said Balthazar, "And keep up if you don't want to get lost."

Swallowing his shock Dave hurried along, dragging his suitcase.

"There are certain spells to prolong your lifetime," Balthazar said, "Keeping a youthful appearance is another matter entirely. The saner spells require that you sacrifice youth, albeit at a slower pace. The ones that don't…well…you were intended to be a product of one of those."

Dave winced.

"But, since sorcery's been going on for such a long time," he said, "wouldn't someone have found a way to keep someone youthful **and **immortal?"

Balthazar gripped the handle of his suitcase forcefully.

"Perhaps," he said, his voice sounding strained, "Perhaps there are ways. But…the sorcerer who was working the spell, they would have to be amazing. They would have to be very powerful indeed for something that was so against nature's law to work. But…nothing's ever really perfect."

He paused and sighed.

"Something you need to understand Dave," Balthazar said, "You can't get something for nothing. That's not just sorcery, that's life."

Balthazar picked up his pace, leaving Dave stumbling behind him and struggling to comprehend what he had just been told.


	16. Chapter 16

"He seems to be settling in nicely."

Balthazar glanced at Ambrosius from the corner of his eye. He was out in the courtyard watching Dave practice his rune work for a shield. The boy was twenty feet away from them, completely absorbed in his rune work. Balthazar was thinking about going and checking it when Ambrosius had wheeled in silently behind him.

"Since when would you care?" asked Balthazar, "You only care about your bulldogs."

Ambrosius shrugged.

"My Marilyn will be having puppies soon, if that's what you're talking about," he said, "But I am rather interested in your apprentice's progress."

"He's not my apprentice," said Balthazar sharply, "Remember the urn?"

Ambrosius gave him a sly grin.

"Yes, of course. Tell me, is the Prime Merlinian showing any progress?"

Balthazar clenched his jaw. He chose his words carefully, because Ambrosius had helped him out in the past.

"Shut up."

"Listen, Balthazar," said Ambrosius eagerly, "I won't tell anyone, it's just…"

He wanted to interrupt him, but the old man looked so frustrated that Balthazar decided to hold his tongue for a little longer.

"…well, my spells aren't working like they used to," admitted Ambrosius, "You know that I've never been the best at them, aging a year for every fifteen. You're doing much better."

The man spoke with no envy, just a frank bluntness.

"At the rate I'm going I'll be dead in a few years, maybe within the decade. I just want to know if I'll live to see Morgana defeated. That's all. I'd die happy if I could see that."

"Ambrosius-" warned Balthazar.

"Please?"

Sighing Balthazar leaned up against the wall.

"You'll live for it."

Nodding Ambrosius settled back into his wheelchair.

"This is good to know."

In the distance Dave frowned and put the chalk down for a moment. He started chewing on his tongue.

"I think I got it right!" he called.

"Nah, 'e doesn't."

Raising his eyebrows Balthazar directed his attention to the other side of the courtyard. A stern man in his mid-forties walked in. Behind him a rather more cheerful boy followed, the one who had made the comment. He was about eleven, maybe twelve. The boy looked at Dave and smirked. Balthazar found himself instantly wanting to hit him upside the head.

"Do I?" asked Dave uncertainly.

"Nah," the boy repeated.

"Well…what did I…?" Dave started.

"Well, it's nuffin specific, but it's your first try, obvious from the stress," the other boy said before Balthazar could answer, "O' course you're gonna get it wrong."

The older man nodded as though this was a given. Balthazar found himself hating the Master too. The boy was being nasty and arrogant. No Master was supposed to let those things thrive in a child. That was supposed to be nipped in the bud as fast as humanly possible. Obviously he wasn't doing his job.

"But I did all the symbols right-"

"Look," the boy said impatiently, "Didn't you 'ear anythin' I said? You ain't gonna get it right. An' stop bein' so arrogant about it."

Ambrosius' lip curled at the boy's words.

"Nigel Frost and his apprentice Drake Stone," sneered Ambrosius, "Such a charming team."

"We can't chose who we work with," said Balthazar through gritted teeth.

"I know. I just wish I could work with better people sometimes."

Nodding once Balthazar strode up to his apprentice and the newcomers. There was no way he was going to let them get away with this.

"Me here," said Drake grandly, "I got i' on the second try."

"I'm sure," Balthazar said, looming large, "Now, you two should probably stand back. Dave, I think you should try."

Drake gave a theatrical shrug and walked off. Nigel eyed Balthazar for a minute before joining his apprentice. Dave looked up at Balthazar with big eyes.

"But-"

"Dave," he said, kneeling down next to him, "The boy's an arrogant idiot. Now, what you should do is try. There's as much to learn from failure as there is from success."

Dave still looked doubtful.

"Listen," sighed Balthazar, "just remember what I told you. Clear your mind, believe in yourself. You know what you wrote, no one else does. And if you did it wrong then we can figure it out from there. Just assume you did it right and give it a try."

His jaw clenching Dave nodded. There was a determination there now that Balthazar felt he could count on. He got to his feet and walked outside of where the shield was meant to be. The Master-apprentice team was already there, Drake shaking his head at the spell. Nigel gave Balthazar an appraising look as he went to stand a foot away from him.

"New at the craft?" he asked condescendingly.

"Been doing this longer than you kid," Balthazar replied.

Nigel furrowed his brow as the runes from Dave's spell lit up. There was a shimmer in the air and Balthazar felt a slight increase in pressure. Putting his hand out he tested the barriers of the spell. There was another shimmer and his hand was pushed back and singed slightly. He withdrew his hand and put it in his pocket for healing later.

"Good job Dave," he said.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Drake staring, puzzled at the turn events had taken. A saint wouldn't mock him over his fat-headedness, but Balthazar wasn't a saint.

"And on the first try too," he remarked conversationally.


	17. Chapter 17

**_A/N: _**_It's a sign of civilization that so many places have wi-fi.  
><em>

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><p>Drake kept his distance while Dave was doing his spell work after that. He should've been relived, but he wasn't. Every time Drake passed him in the halls he glared at him, or turned his head so he couldn't see him. Dave had faced such treatment at schools before. Generally it didn't turn out so well.<p>

It came to a head one day when they passed each other in the halls. Drake stuck out a foot suddenly and tripped him when he went past. Dave had been carrying his Incantus at the time. He had thrown it up into the air and, when it had come back down, it had been painful indeed. He had started to get up to the sound of Drake whistling as he walked away.

The bruise that it had left on Dave's face was hard to ignore. Balthazar's eyes had narrowed at the sight of it.

"Want me to go tell Nigel to keep his apprentice in check?" Balthazar had said.

For a moment Dave was tempted. He had never had anyone around who would volunteer to do something like that for him. Becky, he was sure, would have tried, but it was something he kept from her. It was hard enough to be geeky around her without her knowing he was picked on too as it was.

However, he didn't want Balthazar thinking he couldn't fight his own battles. It was too late for him to try and keep it from him, so he had to do it himself. Dave didn't want Balthazar's unconditional support and defense against people. He had the feeling that he already had that. No, he wanted Balthazar's respect.

So he had declined and thought hard. The next day he had walked past Drake in the hall. Again the boy tried to trip him. This time Dave saw it coming, and easily sidestepped him. This had the unintentional effect of putting Drake off balance and slamming into the wall. He had gotten back up immediately and glared at Dave.

So Dave tried to keep a wide berth of him after that. It wasn't particularly hard because the Keep was so large. Balthazar was also keeping him busy. Their sojourn overseas wasn't going to be any sort of vacation for him. He was given new school work and spells to memorize. He was also encouraged to study magical theory, although he was still barred from history. Sightseeing and exploring would have to go on the backburner.

Some things were happening that couldn't be ignored though. When he was out with Balthazar studying how stone patterns could affect spells he had tentatively mentioned that his birthday was the next day. He had, through many ums and ahs, asked if they could do something to celebrate. One didn't turn eleven every day after all.

Balthazar had turned at him, his face furious. Dave had cringed, sure he was about to be lectured on the very least about keeping information like that tucked away until after lessons were over. Couldn't he have waited at least five minutes before going in unrelated tangents? Instead Balthazar had snapped;

"Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Well, uh," Dave had muttered.

"Why didn't I ask sooner?" Balthazar had demanded, this time to the air.

That was why Balthazar had agreed to take him to a movie and then for dinner afterwards. Balthazar didn't believe in fast food other than sandwiches, so Dave was plotting to get to a McDonald's. Maybe he could get cake or ice cream after that. He hadn't asked for a present, since he had assumed that the day out was already the present.

And it was a good day out. The movie was funny and Dave was allowed to have whatever he wanted for dinner. This resulted in him eating his weight in hamburgers. Balthazar didn't seem to approve, but he was also amused by the situation. Although he told Dave it was a bad idea he also got him a McFlurry.

On the ride back to the Keep Dave had started to feel physically ill. He had expected Balthazar would say 'I told you so'. Yet, instead of that he patted Dave's head with his ring hand. His stomachache disappeared a few seconds later. He looked up at Balthazar, who had shrugged.

"Normally I don't approve of using magic like that," he said, "But…it is your birthday. I'll make an exception."

"You have to teach me how to do that," Dave replied.

"When you're old enough to use it responsibly, then yes. Yes I will."  
>"And when will that be?" asked Dave.<p>

"About nine years," Balthazar said.

By the time they had gotten back to the Keep it was nine thirty at night. Inwardly he groaned loudly. Dave was kept to a strict curfew of ten so he had instinctively started heading for bed. He was surprised for the umpteenth time as Balthazar grabbed the back of his collar and started steering him down another corridor. Dave had to hurry to keep up with his Master's powerful stride.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"You'll see."

He steered him into a small side room. Ambrosius was there, looking rather bored. He sniffed when Dave and Balthazar came in, then redirected his attention to a large bull dog at his feet. All around her were several puppies, each one a few weeks old. Dave's eyes grew large and he started hoping against hope.

"The big dog's name is Marilyn," said Balthazar, "She had puppies a few weeks ago. They're just old enough for adoption. I checked beforehand and Ambrosius says you can pick one."

Ambrosius sniffed again but said nothing. Eyes still wide with wonderment Dave got down on his knees. Feeling shy he held out one of his hands. One of the puppies started sniffing his hand. Then, abandoning its mother completely for the moment, it waddled over to inspect the new comer. He petted the small creature and it licked his hand.

"Can I have this one?" he asked.

"As good as the others," said Ambrosius, "That's one of the males. I remember the spots on his back. What do you plan on naming him?"

Dave gathered the puppy into his arms. The puppy squirmed in his arms, making him aware of how cylindrical it was. It licked his face, making him laugh.

"I think I'll name him Tank," he said.


	18. Chapter 18

Balthazar had to congratulate himself of his handling of Dave's birthday. He loved the puppy immensely and the puppy seemed to have the same affection for him. Tank followed Dave around constantly, even to his room. Many had been the time when he had come to wake Dave up only to find Tank asleep on Dave's chest. All the sheets had born the unmistakable signs of the dog's slobber.

Dave's bond with Tank was more than just a vindication that he was a good gift giver. The way Dave interacted with Tank made him thoughtful to tell the truth. He had assumed that the boy was anti-social or had just had enough bad experiences with other children to halt activity on the making friends front. He had been fine with that. Dave had always been quiet; obviously he had always wanted to be left alone.

Becky had been the exception to that rule. Balthazar supposed that it was the fact that the girl was so full of light and life. He could hardly see how Dave could have said no to her offer of friendship. He was impressed that Dave had managed to put her off for a few days. From what little Balthazar had seen of Becky she was tenacious. Likely that was why she had become Dave's first friend and crush.

Oh yes, Dave had been crushing on her hard. They had had two minutes of interaction and Balthazar had been able to see that. Again, the light she was radiating must have seemed brilliant to the boy who had lived most of his life in the dark. He didn't know what Dave's life had been like before his parents had died and he didn't think Dave did either. He had only been four when they had passed away.

For six years after that he had lived in a small town orphanage. There had been no foster home for him, no. He had just gone straight to the orphanage because it had been easier. Balthazar couldn't really say if it would have been easier if he had gone to a foster home. Would those conditions have been better, or more detrimental to a child such as Dave.

Obviously Dave had not been adopted once he had been placed in the orphanage. Dave had had no family that had visited, no one he or his parents had known well enough to receive visitors. Neither his father nor his mother had had siblings. Both sets of grandparents had died years before his parents.

Dave's social skills weren't brilliant, and Balthazar already knew about his lack of friends. He had been bullied, he could tell. No one had wanted him. So Becky wanting to be his friend had opened up the idea that **people could want him**. Balthazar had been there before as the son of a poor farmer. Yet, even without his own personal knowledge t really didn't take some sort of genius to see that falling for Becky had been the easiest thing he had ever done.

That was why he found it strange that Dave lavished so much attention on Tank. If he didn't know any better he would say that Dave was lonely. Yet, he never showed outward signs of loneliness. He seemed to avoid other children like the plague. Alright, the only child he had seen Dave around was that idiot Drake. That wasn't the type of kid that Dave would be friends with. He was too arrogant and bullying for them to get along.

He was starting to get the uncomfortable feeling that he was denying Dave friends. It might be dramatic of him to see the issue in that light, but he didn't know how else to phrase it. So secrecy about Dave was a big deal. The lifestyle of the Prime Merlinian wasn't the type where friends would be easily made. The lifestyle of a sorcerer's apprentice was not conducive to social interaction period.

Which, of course, was not always true. When he looked back on his own apprenticeship it wasn't the spells and incantations he had been taught that he remembered the most. Truth be told it was hard **not **to look back on his time as an apprentice. He had to constantly figure out new ways to **not **think about it. He had to stay single-minded, to not reminisce. This particular instance required it though.

What he remembered, what he treasured the most about his entire apprenticeship, had been the companionship of the other apprentices. Oh, Merlin had given him good training, training which had saved Balthazar's hide more times then he'd like to mention. His training had made him the man he was today. It had also been the point of all those years under his tutelage.

Sharing a living space and working alongside two other apprentices, that was something special. His years as an apprentice had given him his best friend and his worst enemy. Horvath had saved his life and destroyed it. Among men the one who knew him the best was Horvath. This made it rather difficult when he fought him, but he hadn't known that when they had been two children riding horses in the very Keep he stayed at then.

And Veronica. There were no words to describe how thankful he was that she had been there. Her warmth shone in his memory. Veronica's laughter was something that he had prized and run after. Any smile she gave him was treasured, even before he had known how he had felt about her. Her very presence had constantly reassured him and those around him. She had been a pillar of strength for any situation, any time.

What he would give to see her again. If he could just hold her for another moment, to hear her voice and know that he wasn't dreaming or going mad. Balthazar had once thought that the longing would have become a depressed acceptance as the centuries passed. He had been wrong. He wanted her by him thirteen hundred years later just as painfully as he had when she had first been imprisoned.

Veronica would know what to do about Dave. She would be able to tell if he was lonely or not, if Balthazar were raising him the right way. His beloved had always been highly intuitive, been able to read the natures of others. Whenever Balthazar was sad or angry she would know and be able to placate him. The feeling of her hands on his face had always been calming, allowing him to think clearly and see the logic that had always been there.

Dave was her relative which would have made the job easier. Oh yes, he felt like he was failing her relative too. Dave was more than a relative though, wasn't he? He was the son they could have had together. Balthazar thought about that phrase sardonically before pushing it to the back of his mind. They hadn't gotten married. They hadn't had any son together. Dave was not his son and he would remember that.

Every time he looked at Dave with Tank he couldn't help but wonder though. As the months went by he pushed the thoughts further and further from his head. He had to have Dave trained, he had to have the Prime Merlinian ready to defeat Morgana. If he thought of it any other way it wouldn't do any good. He continued to tell himself that, not sure who exactly it was that he was trying to fool.


	19. Chapter 19

Dave had never felt so cool in his life. It was the first time he had been allowed into the forest outside of the Keep alone. Every other time Balthazar had been with him, warning him about magical creatures that he might run into. So far they had never run into anything, and Balthazar admitted to Dave that the population of dangerous creatures might have decreased significantly since he had been an apprentice.

He had filed that away for future reference. Balthazar said so little about his past that Dave wondered if he had one. Now he had the information that Balthazar had once been an apprentice at the Keep to add to that small repertoire. One day he would get a complete picture if he paid enough attention.

This time he had been allowed to look for mandrakes in the woods alone, albeit within seeing distance of the Keep. The task wasn't particularly glamorous. It involved a lot of digging in the dirt and manual labor. He suspected it was Balthazar's way of saying he needed to get outdoors more. Still, for a boy who was nearly twelve it was a lot of responsibility.

The only downside was that Balthazar hadn't let him take Tank with him. He had told him that it was too easy to lose the dog in the woods. Dave had reluctantly agreed, but Tank had not. Dave had had to lock him in his room. Even then the dog had started howling and making a racket. It was touching in a way.

Spotting red leaves Dave got down on his knees. He started digging with a small shovel around it. Some of the more delicate work was done with his fingers. With some careful excavation he managed to get the whole root above ground intact. Dave admired his handiwork with pride; he hadn't broken a single mandrake that morning.

Just as he was about to put it into his storage bag he heard a snicker. Dave looked up and saw Drake standing a few feet away from him.

"On an errand?" he asked.

Dave regarded Drake warily. Over the past year or so they had developed a very delicate equilibrium. First Drake would try to do something that would hurt or embarrass Dave. Then Dave would find some way to turn it against him in as non-lethal a way as possible. Other than that they tended to give the other space.

Recently he had learned that Drake and his master were moving residences. He had been relieved. That meant that he didn't have to be on guard when walking through the halls alone. He didn't have to wonder who it was that had just entered the room. While Drake had been more like a cold then a plague, it would still be better once he was gone.

So Drake seeking him out into the secluded woods wasn't a good thing. Dave brushed his hands off on his pants and stood up.

"Yeah," he said.

Drake nodded at him. There was an awkward silence.

"Now I know you know I'm leavin'," said Drake, "An' I don't like to leave unfinished business behind."

Oh. So it was going to be one of those sort of things. Dave had enough time to register that he was in for a beating before Drake summoned up a plasma bolt in his hands. It wasn't strong enough to kill, he could tell that, only to maim. He shot it at Dave's chest, knocking him into a tree.

It was only after the impact that Dave realized that he was an apprentice too. He had just frozen up because he was assuaged by old memories of when he hadn't been able to do things in his own defense. That boy was gone now. He had already been in two magical fights, though they had both been a long time ago.

He summoned up his own plasma bolts, making sure that it was bigger and done quicker than Drake. However, he wasn't about to break the equilibrium that had been going on between the two of them. He wasn't going to have to go up to Balthazar and explain why Drake had broken bones. Dave wasn't about to disappoint him.

Instead of aiming at Drake's head, like he was tempted to do, he aimed at the tree behind him. The bolt blasted the wood apart, leaving a deep impression. Drake turned and stared at the crater left behind, bug-eyed. Then he looked back at Dave who had whipped up another plasma bolt. Very calmly, though he was inwardly shaking, Dave said;

"I didn't have to miss. I want you to know that. So maybe you 'll think twice before doing this again, huh?"

He was sure that, if he had waited another moment, Drake would have nodded. Instead there was a crashing from the underbrush to his left. Drake redirected his gaze there, but didn't get his ring ready. Later Dave wondered what kind of training he had had to **not **become instantly suspicious of something like that.

So when the wolf jumped through the bushes Drake was unprepared. Dave was left momentarily stunned by how absurd the situation was. There were no wolves in England anymore. Then again, this wolf's eyes were red and its teeth were black. Alright, so maybe it wasn't a wolf.

Either way it was definitely carnivorous and very much not afraid of humans. The evidence was the fact that its jaw was open and it was leaping for Drake. Instead of casting a shield spell Drake looked like he was panicking, which was never a good sign. Drake turned, tripped, and ended up on the ground. He would later wonder about this sort of training as well.

Dave, for his part, felt very calm. In fact he was almost detached. He put it down to good training. Either way he launched his plasma bolt with ease, knocking the wolf back. It slammed into a tree. With no hesitation he sent another plasma bolt after it, then another and another. He was gratified that it only took four plasma bolts to bring it down. He had assumed that it would take more.

Pride filled him. He'd just killed his first magical creature. He'd tell Balthazar about it later. Trying not to look too smug Dave walked over to where Drake was. He held out his hand to help him up, which the shaking boy took. Part of Dave itched to say something biting, something mocking. All he said was;

"Are you okay?"

Drake nodded his head. He took a long look at the wolf, and then another one at Dave.

"I owe you one."

Without another word Drake stalked off towards the Keep. Dave shrugged and looked over the wolf. He took out his pocket Incantus and tried to look up what it was. He didn't give Drake much mind since he assumed that those were the last words he'd ever hear from him. As time would tell, he was wrong.


	20. Chapter 20

With Nigel Frost and Drake Stone gone the Keep was a quieter place. Balthazar used this as a time to get some basic training done with Dave. He was impressed at the dead Cursed Wolf Dave brought back with him, but had narrowed his eyes at the way Dave had hemmed and hawed over how he had killed it. Dave was a bad liar, but Balthazar knew he was leaving a lot out. Just like he himself did.

Nonetheless he had dropped the subject. There were more important things to focus on. Since he was now nearing the third year of Dave's apprenticeship he had been able to go back and do some serious thinking. He had realized that he had made a mistake in his first years with him.

His mistake had been simple. Their close encounters with Morgana and Horvath had put him in something of a panic mode. The idea of a cornered, defenseless Dave was not a good one. He had realized as they had flown to England that if Morgana or Horvath had caught him on the street he would die. That was enough to make him believe that they were in a state of emergency, which, in a way, they were.

Once they were at the Keep he should have realized that he could afford to take it easy. The many protective spells, the secrecy afforded by the location, and the addition of another powerful sorcerer should have soothed his mind and been reasonable assurance against attack. However, his mind had still been set on high alert.

In short Balthazar had tried to teach Dave too many spells. Dave was a quick study and so Balthazar had assumed he could take it. However, Dave had a complete lack of finesse when it came to spell casting. Only his plasma bolts were really spectacular. If Balthazar didn't want to present the Prime Merlinian as someone who knew many spells but none of them very well, then he had done an excellent job.

Balthazar, of course, did not want that. He wanted someone with a wide repertoire of spells who specialized in several. That was how good sorcerers were made. They had a good combination of knowledge, skill, strength, and power. Oh yes, they also had a healthy dose of confidence. Dave was gaining that, little by little. He already had strength and skill. Power was coming too. Knowledge was still weak.

So he decided to brush up on that with Dave. He had him do practice sessions where he just concentrated on relearning old spells and experimenting with their uses. While Dave would complain about how boring it was he tended to shut up quickly when Balthazar glared at him. Although he was nearly thirteen Dave was still much shorter than him. He dreaded the day when the tables were turned.

He did realize by that point that he should be teaching Dave the history of the craft. Most apprentices already knew it by this point in their apprenticeships. It was Sorcery 101. This was something he felt highly uncomfortable with though, for obvious reasons. He couldn't just have Dave read the whole section in the Incantus. That would be far too revealing.

Balthazar made the decision to teach it to him orally. While it would be painful for him to talk about his past with clinical distance he knew it would be better than Dave confronting him. He still planned on telling him about his past and Dave's own standing as the Prime Merlinian. He would just have to find the right timing.

He had sat Dave down and had him treat it like it was a lecture. He had begun with the primitive forms of magic that went back to the dawn of time. Balthazar described its refinement through the Roman period, but how it was mostly used for divination. The Romans were mad about divination.

So to were the Goths who had sacked Rome. Dave had pointed out that it was surprising how little they knew about divining the future considering how popular it was. Balthazar had been impressed by the connection but had explained that it was an unseemly difficult branch of their craft, as well as the most vague.

Only during the Dark Ages had the Incantus been written. One of the greatest pioneers of the time had been Merlin. Dave's eyes had grown wide.

"**The **Merlin?" he asked.

"Dave," Balthazar sighed, "The Morganian order was founded by Morgana le Faye. So who do you think founded the **Merlin**ian order?"

"I never really thought about it," frowned Dave, "But does that mean King Arthur existed too?"

Balthazar thought back to the golden-haired King who had flown so high. Of course, the higher they fly the faster and harder they fell.

"Yes," Balthazar said, "And Mordred and Lancelot and all those people were real too. Merlin's advice helped keep the kingdom in order. It was such a long time ago that most historians forgot about it. Most of the written records of the time involve magic so historians tend to dismiss them."

"Hang on a second," Dave said, "I thought one of the main points of our order was keeping the existence of magic a secret."

"It is."

"So why did Merlin go around advising the King?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. How come he had to ask a question like that?

"That command was added after Merlin's death," said Balthazar, "It was, you could say, added **because** of his death."

"But you said he was doing good!" Dave protested.

"Yes, he was. And so when he died there was a horrible power vacuum left," snapped Balthazar, "His magic had allowed everyone to walk in fear of Arthur, to help maintain the kingdom. So when he was gone there was no one who was powerful enough to fill his place. There was a huge war because of it."

Dave fell silent. He felt bad for snapping at him, but it was something that Dave needed to understand. He wouldn't see Dave make the same mistakes.

"From…from what I've read," lied Balthazar, "Merlin was a good man. But he let himself get involved in politics. His pride couldn't let him see that he was doing anything wrong, that he could make a mistake that could be potentially fatal."

He could see that Dave didn't understand. It pained him, but he had to further explain.

"He took on apprentices," Balthazar said, "Four altogether. One by herself and the other three together. His first apprentice was Morgana. She betrayed him and became his worst enemy. Another one of his apprentices was Horvath."

Dave's mouth dropped open.

"Yes. You can see his mistake," said Balthazar, "They've been the bane of the magical world ever since."

Balthazar paused, letting Dave drink the information in. Finally Dave said;

"I…I get it."

At least that lesson had made an impression. That made it worth the cost.

"Who were the other two apprentices though?" asked Dave.

"It's getting late," Balthazar said quickly, "I think that's a lesson for another day."

He doubted that any lesson he could teach would make explaining **that **worth the cost.


	21. Chapter 21

Dave looked out the window of the plane. He couldn't believe that he was returning to America after two and a half years. What had once seemed familiar to him was now going to be strange and distant. He wasn't sure if he liked the sound of that, even if it was better than having to pay in pounds.

To tell the truth he had been under the impression they were never going to go back. Then, just a week ago, Balthazar had come to practice and said;

"Horvath and Morgana were sighted in Africa."

Dave had waited, wondering if this was anything to do with him.

"Africa's far away," he said after a while.

"Duly noted. I do know rudimentary geography," Balthazar said.

"Sorry."

"So you should be. But I have been to Africa a total of two times," said Balthazar, "I have no connections there, and no influence with the local Merlinians."

Again Dave wondered when his Master was going to start making sense.

"So they've obviously forgotten about us," continued Balthazar, "Or they've found something more pressing. We're going back to the big apple in a week. I've booked a flight."

By his feet Tank rolled over, eager to be scratched. Dave complied, looking with worry at the animal.

"The flight takes animals. So he'll just be in a carrier, under a seat. By which I mean, your seat," Balthazar said, understanding the look, "You think I'd give you something and then make you leave it behind?"

Dave shrugged. He didn't understand anything Balthazar did.

"For future reference, I wouldn't," continued Balthazar, "Training's off for today. I suggest you start packing instead."

He turned and walked off after that. It took nothing for him to rearrange their lives. Dave wondered more than ever where his Master and guardian had come from. Although Dave couldn't picture him any older or younger than he was currently, by Balthazar's own admission he had been an apprentice. Had he moved around a lot when he was young? Had he undergone the moves for the same reasons? Was that why he had such a cavalier attitude towards going to different places? Did he even have any friends?  
>There was Ambrosius, but he didn't think Ambrosius counted. It was also starting to worry him about how old Balthazar was exactly. He looked like he was somewhere in his mid-to-late thirties, but he seemed older. Him getting on with the thousand-year-old Ambrosius was another clue. How many years ago had Balthazar been born? More worryingly, how many <strong>centuries <strong>ago had Balthazar been born?

It wasn't like he could just go up and ask him. Balthazar always found a way to elude personal questions. So he was hiding something. That made Dave uncomfortable. Of course he trusted Balthazar. Balthazar had saved his life. He had taught him magic. Dave had been under his care for around three years. It was hard not to trust someone after all of that.

At the same time Balthazar had saved his life. He had taught him magic. Dave had been under his care for around three years. And he knew **nothing **about him. Balthazar might have made it his job to save his life, that made sense. Dave got the feeling he didn't just pick up orphan boys, take them in, and teach them to do magic though.

There was also the ring that had once been a small statue of a dragon. So the reaction meant he was going to be a powerful sorcerer. Well and good, even though he suspected that Balthazar had lied about that. No matter how good Dave got with magic he wasn't hero material. Yet, Morgana said that Balthazar was only supposed to take one apprentice. That meant that, as cliché as it sounded, the ring was destined for him. At the time he had been in danger and then Balthazar had carted him off to England. In the excitement he'd forgotten about the incident.

With homecoming came a whole new set of worries. How long exactly had Balthazar known Morgana? The more he went over that day in Chinatown the more he realized that she must have known him. There was a deep hatred between them that was caused by more than just being in different orders.

The same went for Horvath, though he could tell his hatred for him was something special, even more so than his hate for Morgana. Balthazar might now possess the Grimhold, but he hadn't always. He hadn't always had something that they desperately wanted. So, what had he done to them? Or, more likely, what had **they** done to **him**?

Whatever it was, it must have been terrible. Dave wondered if that was connected to Balthazar's lack of friends or family. If Horvath had been willing to bleed and kill a young boy he had never met for longer life, then what would they do to someone they actively hated? It couldn't be good.

Even his kidnapping raised questions. Morgana needed longevity potions to stay young. Horvath didn't. How come he could stay young while his mistress couldn't? Weren't they from around the same time period? Was there something, somewhere that he was missing? There must be. He just couldn't see it.

From underneath his seat Tank whined. They were making their descent now and the sudden drop of the plane must have upset him. Other than that his dog had enjoyed their flight. Balthazar had told him that if Tank yapped all through the twelve hour flight he'd throw him off the plane. Dave assumed he was joking, but he didn't want to take any chances. So it was a good thing that Tank liked flying and had been relatively quiet.

His eyes slid over to Balthazar, who was busy filling out landing cards. He trusted his Master. He did. Dave knew that Balthazar wouldn't harm him, and had given him a sort of home. He was starting to wonder if Balthazar trusted **him** though. Hadn't he earned a little trust? Nothing big, but enough to know the man who had taken him in would be fine. Home wasn't anything without trust.

One day he would ask when he couldn't stand not knowing any longer. Dave didn't know when that day would be, but he both dreaded it and looked forward to it. That day would show how much trust Balthazar really had in him. He just hoped that it would be enough for him to continue to trust Balthazar.

The plane touched down. Even before the 'fasten seatbelt' sign was off Balthazar had unbuckled and was getting their luggage out from the overhead compartment. Dave got up and took Tank's carrier with him from under his seat. Balthazar handed him his backpack. He jerked his head towards the front of the plane.

"Welcome home."

Dave smiled nervously. He sure hoped so.


	22. Chapter 22

They were running. There were cars in the way and they cut in front of them. A driver yelled, making a traditionally rude New York gesture. Balthazar was used to them by that time. He looked over his shoulder, making sure that Dave was still behind him. It was admirable the way he could keep up.

He could also see what they were running from. Abigail Williams was only a street or so behind them. She was travelling as mist now, which wasn't good at all. It wasn't horrible, but he could tell how it would make things harder. He assumed that she would reform before she tried to fight him, but you never knew.

Under his breath he cursed to himself. Of all the times the Morganian had had to break out of her prison and show up it had to be now, and it had to be in New York where some idiot had let her out. It was a bad time in the apprenticeship. Dave had power but lacked confidence in a combat situation. So far things had gone well, but that could change at any second. They'd be in range soon if they didn't hurry.

At the next intersection Balthazar shoved Dave to the right. In accordance with the plan Dave started running in that direction. Abigail wouldn't bother with him if he ran off. Her eye was on Balthazar. She didn't know who Dave was. To her he was just some kid that Balthazar happened to have with him. Abigail wasn't particularly quick thinking, her only real failing. She wouldn't realize that Dave was the bigger prize.

He had had this discussion with Dave beforehand, leaving out the obvious bits of information. Balthazar had also given her a brief background on Abigail. He had only cited that he had fought with and, in her eyes, wronged her. That was more lying by omission, yes, but it was better than him knowing the whole truth.

He had also said, in no uncertain terms;

"Don't be a hero."

"What do you mean?" asked Dave.

"I mean don't risk your life unnecessarily."

"But you do that all the time!" Dave had protested.

"That is because I'm over eighteen and am a legal adult while you, Dave, are a child," Balthazar said, "But, seeing as circumstances are different, we'll say you can start risking your life when you're sixteen."

"Why sixteen?"

"It'll be good preparation for when you're older."

Dave had been irritated but had said nothing about it. He was well aware of the fact that he was thirteen. Every day Balthazar still thanked his lucky stars that Dave wasn't taller than him. It would be hard to give Dave orders when the boy was taller than him. Oh yes, when Dave became more powerful than him it would be hard too, but that day was still quite a ways off.

Predictably the street he was on turned into a dead end. Balthazar touched the wall and caught his breath. He'd reached where he was supposed to be. Now he only had to trust that Dave had done the same. Taking another gulp of oxygen he turned to face the oncoming Abigail, flexing his fingers to put up a shield.

"Mr. Blake," she said, her voice polite and sweet as poison.

"Nice to see you too Abby," he said.

Her face contorted. He appreciated it. John Proctor had told him that Abigail had always hated that nickname when they combined forces to fight her. She had always said it made her sound as though she was some little girl who needed to be led by the hand. Accordingly Balthazar had used it forever afterwards.

He remembered that incident well, remembering that John's wife, Elizabeth, had been there to. Having more support had helped, though she hadn't been magical. She had had to watch as her husband had been killed though. It could have been worse, but it still left Elizabeth pregnant with two young boys. When he left he had her assurances of her financial stability. Elizabeth had been a survivor as well, and he knew she'd keep on surviving.

"Do you know how long I spent trapped in that mirror?"

"Should I remember?" he asked.

She shot fire at him, which was easily blocked with his shield.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said.

"You left me to rot in that stupid mirror for over three hundred years!" screeched Abigail, "And when I wake, what do I find? That there's only this ugly world left for me! What are all these stupid buildings doing here! Why is everything so huge?"

"It's called industrialization," Balthazar said.

More fire flew at him. His shield was starting to crack and he wondered how many attacks he could take before he had to start using his magic offensively.

"YOU STOLE MY LIFE!" she screamed.

He discreetly looked up and saw Dave on the fire escape. Balthazar waved cheerfully the fuming girl.

"Get over yourself Abby."

She screeched just as Dave dropped the mirror that Balthazar had hidden there hours earlier. It enveloped Abigail on the way down, trapping her before it broke into a thousand pieces on the pavement. Balthazar clucked his tongue and walked over. He summoned the pieces into a small box that he had prepared.

Dave came down the fire escape, staring blankly at him.

"I'll separate it into several boxes soon," Balthazar said, "It'll keep her disoriented. She's not getting out any time soon."

His apprentice kept staring at him.

"I got here early," he said, "And I heard you talking to her."

Dave paused. Balthazar's mind flicked through the conversation with Abigail. What had Dave heard that had made him so confused, so determined. Then he remembered when Abigail mentioned her imprisonment, how Balthazar had been the one to do it. His heart sank. So that was it then.

"Balthazar," said Dave, "just how old are you?"

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: _**_Okay, how awesome would 'The Crucible' have been if that was what happened? I mean, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as symbolic, moving, or meaningful, but it would have been cool._


	23. Chapter 23

He waited for Balthazar to answer. His Master sighed, as though he was accepting the inevitable. Finally he said;

"This is not the place."

Dave nodded.

"When we get home then."

Again Balthazar looked resigned. Dave followed his Master, not saying a word on their journey home. The silence continued once they entered the Arcana Cabana. He thought that Balthazar would say something then, but instead he put the kettle on. As Dave took a seat at the kitchen table Balthazar brewed up some tea.

"Want some?" he asked.

"No."

"Fine."

Balthazar made himself up a cup and then went to the table. He took a long, deep sip. As he did Tank came and nuzzled Dave's hand. Distracted he pulled him into his lap.

"Before we start this," he said, "I want to say that I'm not angry at you for asking. This would have to happen sooner or later. And you did well tonight. Better than any thirteen-year-old apprentice I've seen."

Pride welled up in Dave, but he quickly squashed it. He could think about that later. Now he needed to concentrate and get the truth out of him. So instead of thanking him he said;

"I'm nearly fourteen."

"So you are," Balthazar said, "So you are."

He stared at his teacup.

"Dave, I will admit that there are things that I have kept from you," he said, "but I want you to know that it was not out of spite. It was not because I thought you were too young or too immature. What I haven't told you is because of safety purposes and…"

"And?" prompted Dave.

"…and because it's hard to talk about," Balthazar said.

His Master sighed and looked up.

"When I was, nine, yes, I was nine," he said, "I worked on my father's farm. Well, he was a tenant."

Inside his head Dave figured that could have been anywhere from 1930 down. It wasn't a helpful detail, but Balthazar had been raised at the Keep. That had to mean something, and Abigail had mentioned three hundred years. He was starting to wonder if Balthazar was older even than that though.

"So no, it wasn't my father's farm," said Balthazar, "But he'd worked that same patch of land all his life, his father had worked it before him, that sort of thing. My brother continued working on it once my father died, and his descendants could very well still be there. It's hard to think of it as anything other than his."

Balthazar stirred his tea with his spoon.

"A stranger comes to town one day," he said, "I saw him in the market. He spilled these statues from his bag. I went to help him. As soon as I touched one it crawled onto my hand and turned into a ring."

The finger with Balthazar's ring on it started tapping the table.

"I knew he was a sorcerer. Sorcerers weren't so uncommon back then. I didn't know what the ring signified until he went to my father's house and requested that I become his apprentice. There were so many mouths to feed that my father automatically agreed to send me away. I was terrified and excited at the same time."

Dave nodded, but he was getting impatient.

"That doesn't answer my question."

A wry chuckle escaped his Master.

"I'm leading up to that Dave," he said, "So my Master takes me with him and begins training me. You've seen where I was trained."

"I know."

"You don't miss anything," nodded Balthazar, "Except Ambrosius wasn't living there yet, and the Keep was much newer."

He was starting to get a better idea now. Dave stared at him with an open mouth.

"My Master was Merlin, the definitive," Balthazar said wryly, "I can't calculate things exactly, some dates get a little fuzzy in my head, but I am roughly 1300 years old."

"But…but…" stammered Dave, "Didn't you…when we met Ambrosius…"

"Yes. In normal circumstances that would be true," he said, "But as the most powerful sorcerer of this or any age Merlin knew we, his apprentices, would be needed to help defeat Morgana. So he froze all of our ages. We'd only start to age normally once she was defeated. He thought if we all worked together we could do it."

"But Horvath-" Dave started.

The sudden realization that Balthazar must have trained with Horvath made him stop short. Balthazar took another sip of tea, apparently not perturbed by his apprentice's expression.

"Yes, Horvath betrayed him and joined Morgana. Horvath destroyed every damn thing we had ever worked for, ever believed in."

Balthazar shoved the cup of tea to the side.

"But what you need to understand Dave," he said, "is that there is a marked difference between the Horvath that kidnapped and tried to kill you and the Maxim that I knew as a boy. I try to keep them separate in my mind. Because we were friends at one point, good friends. He'd saved my life so many time. I had always thought that out of any of us he would be the most important, the one who would save us all."

He laughed bitterly. Dave looked quietly down at the table. Tank was nuzzling into him so Dave wrapped his arms around the bulldog. A wave of pity and sadness for the man who had raised him drowned him. How must it have been to fight his friend, all alone, for 1300 years? How must it have been to be forced to watch everything around you change while you were completely immobile?

"Balthazar," he asked tentatively, "what about the other apprentice?"

Abruptly Balthazar got up.

"I think that I'll be going to bed now Dave," he said, "There's only so much I can take of this in one day."

Dave watched as Balthazar shoved his hands in his pockets and hurried upstairs. And he was left downstairs, wondering.


	24. Chapter 24

Dave's 14th birthday came and went without another mention of Balthazar's past. He was glad about that. His apprentice avoided all mention of the subject, and again he was glad. It wasn't something he wanted to have come up in casual conversation. So they let it pass, although he knew it wasn't dead; only dormant.

Besides, Dave's 14th birthday brought complications of its own. He decided to address them one day after a training practice.

"I've decided to enroll you in Lincoln High School," said Balthazar, "And when I say decided I mean I already have. It's about twenty minutes away from here by subway, forty if you walk. Your term begins in August."

Dave's head had shot up and he saw the panic that had come into his eyes.

"I'll show you how to get there tomorrow. You'll have to get a rail card, but that sort of figures. Oh, and don't worry; I'll guarantee that you're able to find your way. But you're bright. You'll figure it out soon."

He watched as Dave started to slowly shake his head. It increased in velocity as the seconds ticked by.

"I can't go."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Why's that?"

"I've been homeschooled for four years. I won't be able to keep up with the schoolwork," Dave said.

"Unbeknownst to you you are, in many categories, doing the work of a senior in high school currently," said Balthazar, "I am certain that you will not only keep up with the schoolwork, but **excel **at it."

There was a stunned silence.

"Did you really think I was just going to push you magically?" continued Balthazar, rolling his eyes, "If you took the SAT right now you would score very high indeed. You're a certified genius Dave."

Dave still looked unconvinced.

"Why the sudden urge to put me in high school anyway?" he said, "You're the one who wanted to homeschool me for four years."

"A decision you were more than fine with."

"Yeah, but why should I have to go into public school now?"

Because he needed to have social skills. Because there was a world outside of the Arcana Cabana that Dave wasn't going to bother to see if he didn't have to. Because he had the vague hope that Dave would go to college one day and he didn't think home schooling looked good to admissions counselors. There were a million reasons that all ended with him being concerned that the way he was raising Dave was somehow messing him up.

Those weren't things that he could say though. That sounded too…fatherly. So he decided to use different, although still viable, reasons.

"Because, Dave, you are now entering you mid- to late years as a teenager," Balthazar said, "You're going to start going on and on about having your own space soon, and how I never let you do anything. You're going to start wrecking cars and getting into trouble and I'd prefer it if you had a place where you could get it out of your system that is not **here**."

"I don't want to go."

Balthazar shrugged.

"Alright, you don't have to."

Dave's face brightened.

"Really?"

"No," said Balthazar, "Because now that you are enrolled there is going to be someone called a truant officer who is going to wonder why you aren't attending. They're going to come snooping around and when they see all the weird stuff that I keep hanging around, well, they're going to wonder then."

"I know what a truant officer is," said Dave, irritated, "I read."

"Which is why you'll do well in school."

"Balthazar, can't you um, just un-enroll me?"

"No."

"Why not?" demanded Dave.

"Because I don't want to," said Balthazar, "And that's the end of it."

"Look, Balthazar," Dave said, his voice desperate, "Every kid my age that I've ever met has almost instantly hated me. And I'm not just talking about Drake. I'm going to get the crap kicked out of me if I go to high school."

So here was the root of the problem. He should have known. Of course he would be worried about that. When it came to magic Dave had confidence that was beginning to reach a good stable level. Social situations were a different matter. That was one of the reasons he knew he needed to up Dave's human interaction.

"You can do magic."

"I think this would fall under the category of betraying the craft to the public," Dave said.

"Good, I'm glad you know that and won't be turning a kid into a frog anytime soon ," replied Balthazar, "That saves us both a long, boring, and frankly repetitive lecture on the subject. Good for you."

"Balthazar!" Dave said.

"Look, we both know that that's a lie," said Balthazar, "Not every kid has hated you. Becky liked you well enough."

Dave blushed and looked away. He wanted to roll his eyes. Dave hadn't seen this girl for four years! Then again, Balthazar was the last one to suspect that you couldn't love someone just because you hadn't seen them. However, he had been a full grown man when he lost Veronica. Dave had been ten when he had been separated from Becky, no more than a child. That was a little much.

"Yeah, well," he mumbled, "Becky was special."

"You're just making excuses."

"I'm not, I'm just-"

"Sometimes you have to do things that scare you Dave," said Balthazar, "Sometimes it's the only way to do anything at all in life."


	25. Chapter 25

On his first day at Lincoln High School Balthazar had grudgingly walked with him until he was two blocks away from it. Balthazar hadn't wanted to embarrass him. Dave figured that if he had felt that way then he shouldn't have signed him up for school in the first place. He decided to keep this thought to himself though.

"Training won't let up just because you're going to High School you know," he said, "You're still a sorcerer, but now you're a student too. Let your grades get awful and I will not hesitate to just give you more training."

"Yes," Dave had mumbled.

"And about Tank," Balthazar continued, "I'll walk him in the morning, but you have to walk him in the evening. You know perfectly well that he is highly suspicious of me. I think you're teaching that to him."

"Yes."

"Did you hear what I just said?" asked Balthazar.

"No."

Balthazar had sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

"Just relax with this, okay?" Balthazar said, "School is supposed to be fun. It doesn't have to be awful."

Dave had looked at him with reasonable skepticism.

"It's only as bad as you make it," Balthazar said, "Good luck Dave."

School was just as terrifying as he remembered it being. Only now there were longer hallways and bigger kids. Dave had yet to have his teenage growth spurt yet and could have been stepped on at any time by the taller ones. He had warranted five seconds of attention on his first day, and then he blended into the background.

Except, of course, to the bullies. Oh yes, he was still a magnet to them. However, he was much more physically fit than in elementary school. Dave had now become perfectly adept at running from them. He had learned to recognize when plots were afoot; when to hide his textbooks and move his gym clothes. All of this was made easier by magic. Balthazar might have ruled out magic for retaliation he had never done so for safety.

He was also standing out to teachers. As Balthazar had promised Dave was ahead of his age group in every subject. Even his essays were more organized, if not a little prosaic. Teachers had gotten into an annoying habit of calling on him before he raised his hand. This didn't bode well for his bully problem, but again he now had appropriate ways to avoid them.

To him school was pointless. He got three times as much homework as Balthazar had ever given him and none of it had to do with magic whatsoever. During lunch he started reading from his Incantus, disguised under a _Great Expectations _book sleeve. Using that method he was able to stay ahead with his training sessions that now had to happen hours later.

Dave was starting to wonder why Balthazar had bothered. Had he just become sick of having to teach Dave for four years? Or was this some sort of secret punishment for asking him about his past. He was inclined to think the latter. He struggled not to let his resentment at having to go through school again when he came home.

On a day when he hadn't been able to avoid bullies it all ended. His brave face slipped away. Getting macaroni dumped over the inside of his locker, though it could be cleaned off magically, made him see red. He stewed in his anger until he came back to the Arcana Cabana. Dave had determined that he was going to put his foot down and refuse to go back to school, truant officer or not. Throwing his backpack by the door he yelled;

"The hell is the point!"

Balthazar had come down the stairs and listened to Dave's ensuing rant patiently. Then he had stuffed his hands inside his pockets and said;

"Forget them."

"Excuse me?" Dave snapped.

"Let me tell you something Dave," Balthazar said, "There are boys who, no matter how special they think they are, how arrogant and puffed up they are, how athletic, how many girls fall at their feet, are incredibly ordinary. They may go to college and get a job as a businessman but their lives will be normal. Your life isn't going to be normal Dave. At some level you should appreciate that."

Shaking his head Balthazar had gone back upstairs. Tank had toddled out then and nuzzled his feet. Dave had sank to his knees in a mixture of frustration and confusing, grabbing the dog and holding him close. He thought about Balthazar's words and swallowed his plans to try to evade school.

Two days later he had walked into his advanced Physics class. He had ended up getting placed there after he had displayed incredible knowledge of the subject. There were only a few other freshmen in that class and that day he had been given an advanced lab. He was randomly partnered with someone named Bennet.

He had rather loudly slid into a seat next to him. Bennet seemed to be the kind of person to whom everything was loud. Dave had groaned inside. Now one of the only subjects he could stand was going to turn into a living hell. It was all he needed to complete a horrible week; a lab partner who kept yelling.

Bennet sat down next to him and looked over at his books. Dave started to move to push them away until Bennet asked, sounding excited;

"You're reading _Great Expectations_? Like, of your own free will?"

He glanced over at his disguised Incantus. He had gotten the book sleeve from somewhere; Balthazar's library. However, ever since he had gotten back from England he ahd been allowed to go to the public library whenever he wanted to and had read most books by Dickens. Best to just tell the truth. He was a terrible liar.

"I'm re-reading it actually," Dave said, "Read it twice before. Dickens is actually pretty good if you can muscle your way past the Victorian depressiveness."

Bennet had grinned and smacked the table.

"That's what I keep telling people!" he exclaimed, "You just might be the coolest person I've met since High School started!"

Then Dave realized that Balthazar was right; High School was what you made it. 

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: _**_From certain lines in the movie I figured that Bennet was a Physics major as well. It seemed like he was just as much a nerd as Dave, but had much better social skills. _


	26. Chapter 26

**_A/N: _**_Since a lot of my chapters haven't been very dialouge based I decided to shake things up a bit. Also, something a little lighter now. ;)_

* * *

><p>This was difficult. It was the problem of a Master compounded with those of a…father. Balthazar didn't like thinking of himself in that way, but he appeared to be forced to do that. Part of him, the part that was trying desperately to be rational, told him that it could have been much worse. It could have happened in a civilian area.<p>

"So," Balthazar said rubbing his temples, "Explain how this happened."

His apprentice started studying his shoes.

"Um…"

"Dave, right now I am trying to stay sane. I want you to know that this is no easy task for me. For some strange reason it has become increasingly difficult in recent years," said Balthazar, "I really wonder why that is."

"I don't really know what to say-" Dave started.

"Just be quiet for a minute," Balthazar said, "And I'll tell you what to say."

"Really?"

Dave's face brightened up considerably. Balthazar wondered if it was just in Dave's nature to jump the gun in the manner that he did.

"Yes," Balthazar said, giving him a sardonic smile "You see, I want to know, in no uncertain terms, no hemming or hawing, what exactly happened. And then I want you to tell me how to fix it."

A cloud passed over Dave's face.

"I'm…not sure if I can do the last part…"

"Oh, you're going to figure it out," Balthazar said threateningly, "Now, let's start from the beginning."

"I needed to go and walk Tank," said Dave.

The dog in question sniffed before settling down on the floor and drooling some more. Balthazar sometimes wondered about the wisdom in giving Dave a dog that drooled so much.

"So far so good," Balthazar said, "Continue."

Dave started to squirm. For someone in his teenage years he still had a rather healthy fear of authority. That was good.

"But I had to go and finish my math homework," Dave said, "There's a packet due tomorrow and I had two assignments that I hadn't been thinking about."

"But you should have," Balthazar said, "A little less procrastination next time."

"Okay…I wanted to get it done before dinner because there was a show Bennet recommended that was going to come on after that."

"Still good," said Balthazar, "although I'm not sure how exactly T.V. should factor into your decisions."

"Hey! I have hobbies! I should anyway."

"Okay, not going to go there," said Balthazar, "But I hope you've learned something from this."

"And that is?"

"Haste makes waste," Balthazar said, "Now continue."

Dave sighed.

"So I had to do all those things. And then you told me to clean up the runes from the containment spell I was doing earlier," he said, "And those things covered the entire subway turnaround."

"They don't work otherwise," said Balthazar, "You did read that passage in the Incantus, didn't you?"

"Yes, but it doesn't talk about the way that chalk gets ingrained into this flooring," Dave said, "I figured I had two hours of work on my hands at least."

"Probably true," Balthazar conceded.

"Glad you agree," said Dave, "So I figured that those two hours would eat up the time I had allotted for the dog walk and for my homework."

"Again, probably true."

"And I thought…"

Balthazar put up a hand to stop him. He needed a few moments to collect himself before he dared to speak again.

"I think I can guess what happened next," he said, "You figured that magic would be your quick fix."

"I…yeah," Dave sighed.

"So you decided to do what is arguably the stupidest thing you have ever done in my presence."

"I wouldn't go that far-"

Balthazar put his hand up again. He pointed to where the veritable army of mops were hauling buckets of water towards the middle of the floor and dumping it out. The water was knee-length but the mops were still scrubbing the floor. Several of the sponges wee floating to the bottom so they could assist as well. On top of it all was a thick blanket of soap bubbles.

"…yeah," admitted Dave.

"Now, tell me how you would fix this."

"I don't know how."

"Dave," said Balthazar, "Despite this recent situation you are not stupid. You have a good head on your shoulders. You figure it out."

For a minute Dave bit his lip. He looked around at the mops and folded his arms.

"I ask you," he said finally.

"In this case, correct. You were right in asking me for help before it started to reach the power outlets," he said, "Although if you'd left it for another couple of minutes who knows what could have happened."

Balthazar stretched out his arms.

"Now watch carefully."

His apprentice nodded. Balthazar cleared his mind and his ring began to glow.

"DISPERSE!" he yelled.

With delicate motions he pushed all the water back and quieted the mops and sponges. Dave watched in awe as the water was pulled back and all the cleaning materials were left.

"And now," Balthazar said, putting his hands down, "for your punishment you are going to put all of these mops and sponges back. No magic."

Dave groaned but headed down the stairs. Balthazar shook his head but couldn't keep back the wry smile. Despite his lack of control Dave had actually managed a very complex spell, animating several objects to do his will. Although he'd never tell him, Balthazar was actually faintly impressed.


	27. Chapter 27

"Dave, what did you do to the training room now?"

Dave looked up from his bundle of wires and plugs. He looked around the training room. Piles of copper wire were stacked on the tables and metal plates stood in piles. Off to the side Tank had started to chew some of the softer piles of casing. To the untrained eye it did look like the subway turnaround was undergoing some sort of intensive rewiring system. Either that or chaos had descended upon a mad scientist's lab.

"Probably should've asked you first, right?" he winced.

Balthazar came down the stairs. He looked stressed and tired, although Dave suspected he was always stressed. When he bothered to think about it he figured it was some sort of side effect from having to live for over a thousand years. Thinking about it Ambrosius had looked perennially stressed as well.

"It couldn't have hurt," Balthazar said.

"Can I…use the training room?" asked Dave.

"No."

Dave's mouth dropped open.

"But I already started to get everything ready," he said, "I went and organized all the different wires and figured out where all the electric charges are! If I have to take this upstairs then it's going to be scattered all over the Arcana Cabana and we might have no hot water for a month-"

Balthazar's hands waved.

"Slow down, slow down," he said, looking amused, "That's only the answer until you explain what you're doing here. So, I'm asking you again, and I expect an answer this time, what did you do to the training room?"

He rolled his eyes. He should've known better than to take anything that Balthazar said at face value.

"And if this is some sort of bizarre magical misshape," Balthazar said, "and I'm hoping it isn't after that mop debacle, than why haven't you already dealt with this in the appropriate manner?"

He laughed and went back to putting insulation on the wires.

"It's a science experiment," Dave explained.

"Science experiment?"

"More like a science project," elaborated Dave, "I'm building a tesla coil. A **full-sized **tesla coil. Maybe two or three if I have leftover materials."

"That's ambitious," Balthazar said, "I can only assume that you're doing this for something other than the usual end-of-year project."

"I've only done one of those!"

"You know what I mean," said Balthazar.

"There's going to be a science fair in two months," laughed Dave.

"You're going to build a tesla coil in two months?" asked Balthazar, "That's more than ambitious; it's suicidal. You'll be pulling your hair out just like the real Tesla did and Dave, you are far too young to be bald."

Dave stared at him.

"You knew Tesla?"

"He was a very powerful Merlinian," Balthazar said, "He wanted to somehow combine magic and science into one art form. He never did manage it, but he did make his mark on both the technological and magical world."

Dave continued to stare at him.

"In fact," Balthazar said, clearly enjoying himself, "I remember the first Tesla coil he made. It set the power station that he was getting the energy from to catch on fire and put Colorado Springs into a complete blackout after only one minute of operation. Then we had to go down and fix it. I can tell you, they were not happy down here."

Taking deep breaths Dave shook his head.

"I'm going to write a book one day about all the famous people you knew," said Dave, "It's never going to get published, but I'm going to have to write it to keep track of them all."

"I've led and interesting life," said Balthazar, "Now, tell me more about this science fair that you want to build tesla coils for."

"It's only for Juniors and Seniors but my Physics teacher got me in," said Dave, "Bennet told me about it first and I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try. So I wrote a thesis paper for it and it got a good reception. This is going to be how I test the hypothesis I made, and then I'm going to do a presentation on it."

His Master shrugged. Dave felt the need to further explain.

"There's only going to be three other Sophomores who are included in this," he said, trying not to sound strained, "It's also district wide, and again only three other Sophomores. I'm the only one from my school."

Despite appearances he didn't mean to brag. All he wanted to do was to have Balthazar see what a big deal it was that he was included in those allowed to compete. He saw Balthazar smirk and nod in approval. Dave tried not to show how happy he was at that slight acknowledgement.

"And if you win?" asked Balthazar.

"A ten thousand dollar scholarship," Dave said, "Second place is five thousand dollars, third is one thousand."

"Impressive," Balthazar asked, "Do you have a college picked out?"

Dave shrugged.

"I was thinking New York University."

"NYU?" asked Balthazar.

"The same."

Balthazar gave another approving nod.

"Fine, you can use the training room. But it means you're going to have to do a lot of book work upstairs and do more low-key magic from now on," he said, "Understood?"

"Understood," Dave replied, smiling.


	28. Chapter 28

**_A/N: _**_Just three more chapters to go on this one. So grateful for all the wi-fi. ;)_

* * *

><p>Although Balthazar had lived for thirteen hundred years he had never really figured out what determined who was a sorcerer and who wasn't. To his comfort the rest of the magical community didn't know either. He knew, as did they, that if your parents, even if it was just one of them, were sorcerers, then you would most likely be a sorcerer.<p>

Horvath's parents had both been sorcerers, his mother to a lesser extent to than his father. He had been an obvious choice to look for an apprentice in. Morgana had also been the daughter of a sorcerer and his bride. Again, the choice to see if she had any talent was obvious. The same was true of Merlin; a sorcerer for a father and a non-sorcerer for a mother.

However, Veronica's parents hadn't been sorcerers. They had been in awe and, to some extent, terrified of their daughter's sudden power. Whenever she visited home it had been hard to reconnect with them. Ruth, her sister, had been close to her, but only because she had essentially grown up around a sister who had become a sorcerer. Her parents had grown up with a child who had displayed her power eventually. Veronica's home visits became increasingly infrequent towards the end of her apprenticeship.

It had pained her to drift away from her family but it was something that was happening whether she wanted it to or not. Her family was simply not equipped to deal with someone who could do magic. To his knowledge she hadn't had a sorcerer on either side of her family in the past hundred years. He had done a good deal of research on her family when he had found Dave, so he knew what he was talking about. And it sounded as though Dave had been her only sorcerer descendant.

Balthazar himself was not of sorcerous descent. His family had always been farmers. If there had ever been a sorcerer in his line, his prideful father would have never stopped talking about him. His brothers had never shown the talent, nor had his sisters. Merlin had come back and checked on that, like he did with all of the families of his apprentices. He was pretty sure, although he had never looked, that none of his brother's descendants became sorcerers. It was something that he could feel in his bones.

So how was a sorcerer decided? What genes or birth decided that a certain person could do magic? How was a sorcerer, or sorceress as the case may be, discovered if they had no magical ancestry? Given that the ratio of sorcerers to the non-magicals was very low he knew it couldn't be easy to just randomly find these people.

He had only come up with one word; fate. Veronica had first proposed the theory to him that nothing really decided it. Some people became sorcerers and some didn't. It was just part of a big plan somewhere. Balthazar had accepted the theory because he didn't have a better one. Not to mention that he held any words of Veronica in high-esteem. It was understandable when he remembered that he only had words, a painted image, and a necklace never given left of Veronica.

In his longer nights Balthazar had come up with some theories of his own when it came to sorcerers. He believed that not everyone who could become a sorcerer did become a sorcerer. After all, being a sorcerer was only a small part about ability. The rest of it was training, good training.

He figured that the chances of a sorcerer randomly showing a statue that would become a ring to a random person were low. Sorcerers only did that when they were searching for an apprentice. Sorcerers generally took two or three apprentices in their lifetimes. The really ambitious ones took four or five. Balthazar had decided to take one and one alone. That apprentice had turned out to be Dave.

This was not normal, yet neither had the way that Merlin taken apprentices been normal. No one took apprentices all at once. Balthazar didn't know how it had been done before Merlin had been murdered by Morgana and Horvath. Maybe sorcerers had taken six apprentices at one time before Merlin's betrayal and death. It would have been a lesson well-learned by the community if that was the reason why apprentices were taken individually.

So he thought it was realistic to think that there were potential sorcerers out there who would never be scouted. He also thought it was realistic to suppose that generations of uncounted talent had lived and died never reaching their full potential. It was a crying shame, it really was, but sorcerers couldn't be everywhere at once.

When the theory came to him he started to wonder what those potential sorcerers did with their lives. Did they become famous? Did they lead normal lives? That night it had nearly driven him mad. On normal nights he had trouble sleeping. That night though he felt like he was never going to sleep again.

In the end Balthazar decided that these potential sorcerers couldn't have lived normal lives. They had the ability to use the entirety of their brains. How could they possibly go and lead normal lives with that ability? Even if they didn't know how to use magic their brain power was ten times that of any normal human. That was why Dave got Physics the way he did. It just seemed to click in his mind.

No. Balthazar didn't think anyone with those kinds of abilities had it in them to be normal. They would all be incredibly special. They had it in them to move worlds and change the way things worked. Maybe they would become politicians or those who ran off to Kenya and participated in the Peace Corps. He had the feeling that there were more unscouted sorcerers than there were sorcerers. And perhaps the world was better place for it.

So it came as no great surprise to Balthazar when Dave beat all of his competitors and took the top prize at the Science Fair for his district. Sorcerer or no Dave had the makings of greatness in him. He had the ability, at the age of fifteen, to wow judges and create electric spectacles of greatness.

And when Dave had finished with his presentation he had looked over at Balthazar. The look had been yearning for approval. When he saw that look it terrified him. Yet, he had to smile and nod at him. Because he knew that Dave was going to be the Prime Merlinian. He knew that he had found him. And he knew, despite the misgivings that he had been feeling for years, he had done a good job training him. And he had the sneaking suspicion that Dave held his opinion in respect. He wasn't sure how he felt about that though.


	29. Chapter 29

"So, senior year," Bennet said, shifting his backpack on his shoulder, "You still hell-bent on going to NYU?"

"Totally," Dave said, "It's got this amazing Physics department."

"And we both know, what is it, 'your brain thinks Physics'?"

Dave frowned defensively. They sat down at one of the tables in the library, putting their backpacks at their feet.

"It does."

"No man, I saw your thesis on those tesla coils last year," said Bennet, "That was awesome. Just saying."

"What are you saying?" Dave asked.

"Ah…have you ever been out of state man?" Bennet asked, "I mean, you're born in New York, go to a high school here, going to go to college here…get a job here probably. Get married here…if you ever talked to any girls."

There was a note of playful reproach in his best friend's voice. Dave laughed and leaned back in his chair.

"You're saying that I just want to go to NYU because I want to stay close to home," Dave said.

"Well, yeah."

"Okay, let's break this down. First things first," Dave said, "I have actually been outside of the state."

"Oh really?" asked Bennet, "Where'd you go, Vermont?"

"England," Dave said.

Bennet blinked and looked at him with something approaching incredulity.

"You're joking."  
>"I'm not," Dave insisted, "My uncle was getting some new acquisitions for his store. And there were some business things…and we ended up staying there for two years. I was homeschooled back then do it didn't really affect anything."<p>

"You don't have an accent though."

He winced. He had been worried people would say that if he mentioned he'd lived in England. Dave shuddered when he thought of what his life would have been like if, on top of his general nerdiness, he'd had an English accent. If he thought the bullying had been bad his freshman year, it would have been nothing compared to that. The only thing that could make it worse was if he had had glasses.

"Doesn't work like that," said Dave, shaking his head, "Anyway, we did. So my second point is this; what's so bad about wanting to stay close to home?"

Across from him Bennet banged his fist against the table and let out a rollicking laugh. The librarian looked over at him disapprovingly.

"Dave, you're killing me," gasped Bennet.

"What?"

"You've met my parents, right?" Bennet asked.

Dave had met Bennet's parents briefly when they had gone to his house once to get materials for his project. He had been almost shoved out the door. Bennet's parents weren't bad, just a little embarrassing to a boy in his late teens. He had never said anything about it out of respect for his friend.

It actually worked out good that way, since Bennet never invited him to his house. That way Dave never had to invite him to the Arcana Cabana. Also, Bennet assumed that it was something that just wasn't done. Again, it was a relief. The explanations would take weeks if anything went wrong.

"Look, most people I talk to can't wait to get away from their parents," Bennet said, "Don't you get it? They're driving them absolutely nuts."

"Good thing I don't have any parents then," Dave said irritably.

The smile on Bennet's face fell. A few months after he'd met him Dave had told him about his parents and his adoption by his 'uncle'.

"Didn't mean it like that," said Bennet.

"I know, I know," sighed Dave, "Just saying, things are different."

"But your uncle, that is one guy who actually **looms**," Bennet said, "I mean, at the Science Fair I thought he was security."  
>"Security doesn't dress like that."<p>

"You get my point," said Bennet, rolling his eyes, "Just, sometimes I wonder if you guys are CIA agents or something."

Dave stared at him.

"What…makes you say that?" he asked slowly.

"You don't run with the pack Dave," Bennet said.

"Oh God," moaned Dave, "Are you going to start that stupid wolf metaphor again? Because I don't think I can take it-"

"It's a good metaphor," argued Bennet, "It's a brilliant metaphor actually. But, you're kinda separate from everyone else. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing yet, truth be told."

Feeling awkward Dave stared at his friend. He didn't know what to make of that. Was it good or bad? Bennet shrugged at him as though reading his mind.

"Anyway, all I know is that I don't want to go to a college that shares the same state as my family," Bennet said.

"Oh," Dave said.

He was disappointed. Dave had held the hope that Bennet, after all the NYU pamphlets he'd seen him with, would share the same college with him. Apparently not.

"Which makes it good that my parents are moving to Florida for the warmer climate now that I'm out of the house," said Bennet, "Means I can go to NYU."

Bennet smirked, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back.

"Here's looking forward to it, Physics-boy."


	30. Chapter 30

Life was a strange collection of events that, in some way or another, influenced each other. It was like a jigsaw puzzle where the different pieces connected to more than one piece. Although they were chronological, they didn't always have to do with each other. Relevant information could be stored in events that had happened years before.

The way her father had screamed at her for example. Her father would have her believe that it had been because she deserved it, she had mouthed off at him one time too many that day. Becky knew it was because of her parent's divorce when she was eleven though. She wasn't stupid after all.

Still, it was hard to take his scathing mental abuse day after day. Becky didn't shout back at him and tried to let the words slide off of her like water. It wasn't easy and sometimes she gave into the temptation to shout back and point out the obvious flaws in his logic like that night. That had resulted in the escalation of the argument and Becky retreating to her room, locking the door behind her.

By this point in her life Becky knew the neighbors heard the things that James Barnes called his daughter. She also knew by this point that they had never been given a noise complaint. The police had never been called because of the profanity that escaped his lips, especially when he was drunk. She theorized it was because he was James Barnes and had enough influence to make their lives miserable if Gereg Wilde showed up at his doorstep.

It wasn't like she wanted them to come in and save her anyway. If she wanted to be saved than she could save herself. Sure, when she was eleven she had wanted someone to come in and stop it. Her mother was in Maine now and certainly wouldn't do the job. So she had struggled through another three years before she had been able to avoid him when he got angry.

Feeling exhausted she walked to her bed. Becky flopped down and stared at the ceiling. When she was ten she'd painted the whole room blue. Her parents had handed her a few cans of paint and some brushes. It had been a good way to occupy the afternoon when she'd had no friends. Her mother had helped her when she went up the ladder, but other than that she'd done it herself. Her childish whorls in the paint were still visible after all this time.

They were about the only things left of her childhood. After Dave had been adopted her father had forbidden her to hang out around the orphanage. She had started to come home to a house that was empty more and more. On the days when she had gone to her mother's apartment before the divorce went through and she'd left town she had always been sad.

At one point she'd had this delusion that her parents would get back together. It had been destroyed when the court had ruled that Anabelle Rourke Barnes had good reason for a divorce. Then her mother moved to Main where her family was. Because of his position in Ashridge her father had been given custody. Becky saw her mother during the summer, never saying a word about how bad things were at home. It wasn't like her mother could do anything about it.

Her friends always felt strange to her. Sure she had them. However, she suspected that in your life you were only going to have one or two best friends that understood you completely and clicked with you. The rest would only be friends. Becky had a sinking feeling that she'd used up her special friend privileges with Dave when she was ten.

Sometimes she wondered what had happened to Dave. Despite growing up she still knew what she had seen as a child. His 'uncle' was a sorcerer and he was going to train him to be one too. She wondered if he was off having fantastical adventures that would put Harry Potter to shame while she stayed in the same town.

It wasn't that she envied the abilities that Dave had. That was something she had always seen as something wonderful that he could do, like how she could play the piano. Becky just doubted that the sorcerer he had gone off with would yell and scream about how he was a disappointment and mistake. She doubted it.

Closing her eyes she thought back to the day he'd left.

"_And you're going away?"_

_ "Yeah."_

_ She'd been close to tears when she'd said;_

_ "But we can write and stuff, right?"_

_ The man shook his head._

_ "Too much of a risk," he said, "Horvath, the man you saw today, might want revenge for the bit of inconvenience Dave caused. He's forgotten about you, Becky, by this point; I know how his mind works. But if he can't find Dave and there's a paper trail, well, he'll be able to find him and possibly hurt you as well."_

_ She nodded as though she understood, although she didn't. From down the hall she heard her father call impatiently;_

_ "Becky!"_

_ Dave dug into his pocket and took out the necklace that she'd given the man to track him. He slipped it around her neck and gave her a nervous smile. _

_ "It's still yours. And…I'll see you one day. I'm sure about that."_

_ She hugged him again, tightly because she wasn't at all sure that that was how it was going to happen. Feeling awful Becky had broken away and begun to run towards her father. There were tears in her eyes but she was furiously wiping them away. She couldn't stand to be there another moment. _

If she had known what her life was going to be like after that she might have begged Dave to take her with him. If she were that young it wouldn't have been running away. Yet, she hadn't and now she had locked herself in her room while her father vented his anger by eating potato chips and watching T.V.

Sighing she turned over and reached under her mattress. When she was little she'd realized her father liked to snoop around her room from time to time. This was going to remain hidden though. She picked up the necklace Dave had made for her all that time ago. The elastic felt a little weak to her, but the beads were as strong as ever. It was very neatly, and rather gently because of its age, wrapped around several pamphlets for NYU.

Her father thought she was going to follow in his footsteps and go to a college that was nearby. However, she knew that she'd just be under his thumb if she did that. So she had decided to secretly apply for NYU. It would be far away from him and once she was accepted her mother would pay her tuition. She had promised and had a rather good settlement from the divorce.

Becky smiled. As she'd said before, if she wanted to be saved then she'd best save herself.


	31. Chapter 31

"Something happened tonight," Balthazar said, "Something that scared the hell out of me. Something earth-shattering."

He sat in his room, his body sprawled across his bed. The Grimhold was in his hand, Veronica's picture staring at him. In a few medical studies Balthazar had learned that it was considered good to speak to coma patients. He couldn't imagine any way else to classify his beloved.

So, when things got intense with Dave or frustrating and he had no one else to turn to her talked to her. It was soothing in a way. He only wished she could answer.

"We were out hunting a band of kelpies out by the river," he said, "Nasty little things. Do you remember them?"

That was a stupid question. Veronica's memory had always been much better than his.

"Of course you do," he said, "I remember that one time I was nearly dragged under. Passed out because of the lack of air. It wouldn't have happened if there were more of us, but Horvath wasn't there because he was off with Master dealing with a hellhound problem up North. There were always hellhounds up North."

Many times he'd wondered why that was. Maybe the cold had come as a relief to them after a while.

"When I came to," Balthazar said, "you were crying, hammering at my chest and trying to get me to breathe again."

Balthazar smiled wryly. He could still remember the way her hair had fallen around her, brushing his nose. It was funny to think that, despite the fact that he was half-choked on water, he could still remember thinking that she looked beautiful. He'd actually had half a mind to comment on it through his water logged lips.

It was probably due to the oxygen deprivation. At that point he would have thought that it was a stupid and unwelcome comment. In his mind she was still the Princess in his mind and he was the peasant. Because of his magic he could be friends with her, be her fellow apprentice. Anything more than that would be wildly inappropriate though.

"We were fifteen, weren't we?" he asked, lost for a moment in nostalgia, "And you were so scared. As soon as you saw I'd woken up you got angry though, telling me you'd kill me if I ever left you like that again."

He closed his eyes.

"I fell in love with you then, did you know that? Before I had just thought you beautiful, and you were," he added hastily, "But I had never let my mind wander there. For the first time I did and it felt like I was drowning. And I knew; I almost had. I didn't say a word about it for years and years, but I did."

Opening his eyes again he coughed.

"Anyway, what happened tonight was somewhat similar," he said, "See, the thing is that Dave isn't exactly sure-footed. He's clumsy. Sometimes it's hard to believe that he's your descendent. Guess your genes didn't carry."

Shrugging he leaned back further.

"Anyway his foot slips and one of the kelpies comes up and drags him under. I was after him like a shot. I can't remember moving that fast for years; except perhaps when I'm fighting Horvath," said Balthazar, "When I get down there Dave's already blasted them to pieces. All I had to do was follow him back up. I've decided to let him do solo missions now; tonight's proven that he's ready for them."

Sighing deeply he shifted the Grimhold in his hands.

"You know that I respond well to chaos," said Balthazar, "Everyone around me can be completely out of their minds. And then I'm in the middle of it, the eye of the storm. You know how calm I could be when we were fighting Morgana or up against an ogre or troll or giant. Even Master said something about it once. He said I was like him in that respect, that I could shove panic to the back of my mind."

He shook his head.

"But that's not entirely true," he said, "I'm calm, but only when people I love aren't directly in the line of fire. When I saw that Morgana had taken you that night I panicked. I panicked completely. It was like my brain had been scrambled and I couldn't think straight."

Clutching the Grimhold tighter he closed his eyes. The words that he wanted to say next made his stomach churn with a strange anticipation of what was coming next. Once he said it then there was no going back. It would become real if it was articulated into words. Yet, it was for that reason that he had to say it.

"I felt that again tonight when I saw that Dave looked like he could drown," Balthazar said, "And it had nothing to do with him being the Prime Merlinian. Nothing at all. It had nothing to do with him being only eighteen. But it had **everything **to do with the fact that I've practically raised him."

Swallowing hard he opened his eyes.

"I've been fighting this for so long it feels like it's a part of me. Get up; deny that he's anything **but **the Prime Merlinian. But I've wanted to see him as the son we didn't have for so long. I've been denying it," said Balthazar, "And I think the fact that I wanted to is because he's the closest thing I've ever had to a child. I just wish he could have been ours. I believe I've been fighting it because he really isn't ours. But if you could meet him, I know the two of you would get along. I wish I could have freed you ages ago so we could raise him together. Yet, I still think he could be yours too. Could be ours in that way."

He smiled sadly.

"So when you come out, if you can hear this, I hope you're ready to have a stepson," laughed Balthazar mirthlessly, "I think you will be. I'm not even sure I'm ready to have a son after all, and it appears I already have one." 

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: _**_And that's the last chapter in 'Stellar Evolution: Protostar'. The next story, 'Stellar Evolution: Supernova', should come out in about two weeks. Special shout out to kenobigirlliz, Jem Yorke, noamg, and everyone else who reviewed! Thanks a ton! _


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